Battling Modern-Day Slavery in the Supply Chain

Is there slavery in your global supply chain? Are you sure about that? Governments want to know. The first major attempt to curb modern-day slavery through legislation was the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010, which took effect in early 2012. It served as a template for the United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act of 2015. Both require companies to disclose the presence of slavery or human trafficking anywhere in their supply chains, or face stiff penalties for failing to do so. Our guest on this episode is attorney Maureen Gorsen, partner in the Environment, Land Use Natural Resources Group of Alston Bird LLP. She discusses how companies can comply with the two laws, and gain visibility into activities of which they might previously have been unaware. As with any human rights violations, it can be tough to uncover such occurrences within complex, global supply chains. Nevertheless, companies will have to step up their game. These initial laws represent only the beginning of what's sure to be a more comprehensive effort on the part of governments to put a stop to slavery once and for all.