Hawley Introduces Forced Labor Bill to Compel Companies to Disclose Supply Chain Due Diligence
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill that would compel companies to disclose what they are doing to “eradicate forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking from their supply chains,” and would require independent audits at major companies to ensure they are not complicit in forced labor in their supply chains. “If corporate America wants to be the face of social change today, they should have to certify they are completely slave-free,” Hawley said in a news release. “Participate in independent audits to verify it and disclose steps to ensure slave labor won’t become part of the equation later on. And if they refuse to do so, they should pay the price. That’s social responsibility.”
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The bill, introduced July 20, would also make those audits public. “At least 80 global companies have been tied to forced Uighur labor in China, from sportswear companies like Nike, Adidas, and Puma to tech giants like Lenovo and Samsung,” Hawley's office said. The bill would require CEOs to sign a paper on forced labor, but Hawley, on July 21, asked CEOs to come forward now and pledge that they are not using any forced labor.