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Article

28 Jul 2023

Author:
Brianna Mcilraith, Stuff

New Zealand: Proposed modern slavery law does not include a due diligence component on supply chains

"Businesses to share supply chain and operation details through public register to tackle slavery", 28 July 2023

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Organisations with more than $20 million in revenue will be required to report and outline the actions they take to address exploitation risks in their operations and supply chains.

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Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Carmel Sepuloni said it was vital the country brought modern slavery practices out of the shadows to ensure workers were safe and treated with dignity.

“This proposed legislation and public register will be among the world’s strongest reporting systems for tackling modern slavery.”

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Tearfund was disappointed that the proposed legislation did not include a due diligence component that required companies to take action to reduce the risk of exploitation in their supply chains.

“This means that the legislation will only require companies to disclose exploitation, but they would not be required to act to reduce it,” she said.

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“Without due diligence, we cannot effectively prevent modern slavery and other human rights abuses occurring in supply chains. Disclosure approaches often act as a tick-the-box exercise that can be completed with minimal research into modern slavery risks and with little or no transformative action."

Gray urged the Government to make a strong commitment to introducing a second due diligence requirement within a specified timeframe.

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