Corporate supply chain transparency: California's seminal attempt to discourage forced labour

Author: Greer, Benjamin Thomas & Purvis, Jeffrey

Abstract: Human trafficking, ‘modern-day slavery’, is an abomination that decimates the lives of the trafficked, fracturing families, and is an act exploiting labour, treating it as a renewable resource. Trafficking is a highly dynamic and fluid phenomenon that reacts remarkably well to consumer demand, under-regulated economic sectors, and easily adapts to exploit weaknesses in prevailing laws. The California State Legislature has begun a novel approach – fostering greater public awareness in their systematic combat against forced labour by requiring businesses to disclose their anti-trafficking supply chain policies. Titled the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010, large retailer sellers must conspicuously disclose on their public website their policies, if any, to detect and fight slave labour. Corporate globalisation of storefronts and manufacturing has contributed to human trafficking becoming the fastest growing and the third most widespread criminal enterprise in the world. Understanding the United States’ markets are a key destination for slave-made goods, California became the first governmental entity to codify supply chain disclosures. California's legislative and social experiments are often the foundational model upon which other states or Congress chooses to follow. This article will highlight the newly honed focus of combating human trafficking with legislative measures designed to increase consumer awareness and will propose alternate legislative methods better designed to advance this goal.

Keywords: human trafficking, forced labour, SB 657, supply chain, California, transparency