The United States National Contact Point (U.S. NCP) is meant to act as a complaint mechanism where people harmed by American companies’ activities and operations can bring grievances...[and] plays an important role in clarifying expectations to companies on how to operate in a socially responsible manner... It also has the potential to enable some form of remediation for victims of corporate human rights abuses.

Later this week, the U.S. NCP will come under review... provid[ing] an important opportunity... to take stock of achievements, acknowledge weaknesses, and develop strategies to strengthen the U.S. NCP’s effectiveness and performance... For the U.S. NCP to be effective, there need to be incentives to bring companies to the negotiating table and consequences when they fail to abide by the OECD Guidelines... It should follow the lead of other NCP offices in embracing its power to determine whether a business has breached the OECD Guidelines, and impose meaningful sanctions for non-compliance... The U.S. NCP should also adopt reforms to make the complaint process friendlier to workers and affected communities so that problems can be resolved in a fair and solution-oriented manner for all stakeholders.