[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4842 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4842
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require certain
companies to disclose information describing any measures the company
has taken to identify and address conditions of forced labor, slavery,
human trafficking, and the worst forms of child labor within the
company's supply chains.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2014
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself and Mr. Smith of New
Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require certain
companies to disclose information describing any measures the company
has taken to identify and address conditions of forced labor, slavery,
human trafficking, and the worst forms of child labor within the
company's supply chains.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Business Supply Chain Transparency
on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) In 2012, the Department of Labor identified 134 goods
from 74 countries around the world made by forced labor and
child labor.
(2) The United States is the world's largest importer, and
in the 21st century, investors, consumers, and broader civil
society increasingly demand information about the human rights
impact of products in the United States market.
(3) Courts have also ruled that consumers do not have
standing to bring a civil action in United States courts for
enforcement of this provision of the Tariff Act, because the
legislative intent was to protect American manufacturers from
unfairly priced goods, not to protect consumers from tainted
goods, consequently, there are fewer than 40 enforcement
actions on record in the past 80 years.
(4) Mechanisms under Federal law related to forced labor,
slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms of child labor
in the stream of commerce suffer from similar problems of
limited scope, broad expectations, and inability to provide
information about specific supplies whose goods are tainted.
(5) The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and
Human Rights affirm that business enterprises have a
responsibility to respect human rights, and that States have a
duty to ensure these rights are protected. Such Guiding
Principles also clarify that the duty to protect against
business-related human rights abuses requires States to take
the necessary steps to prevent and address human rights abuses
to workers through effective policies and regulation.
(6) The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
of 2003 (Public Law 108-193) together with the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-164) provide for
the termination of Federal contracts where a Federal contractor
or subcontractor engages in severe forms of trafficking in
persons or has procured a commercial sex act during the period
of time that the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement is
in effect, or uses forced labor in the performance of the
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. The Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2005 also provide United States
courts with criminal jurisdiction abroad over Federal
employees, contractors, or subcontractors who participate in
severe forms of trafficking in persons or forced labor.
(7) Executive Order 13126, Prohibition of Acquisition of
Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor,
Executive Order 13627, Strengthening Protections Against
Trafficking In Persons In Federal Contracts, and title XVII of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
(Public Law 112-239) have prohibited Federal contractors,
subcontractors, and their employees from engaging in the
following trafficking-related activities: charging labor
recruitment fees; confiscating passports and other identity
documents of workers; and using fraudulent recruitment
practices, including failing to disclose basic information or
making material misrepresentations about the terms and
conditions of employment. Such Executive order and Acts also
require Federal contractors, subcontractors, and their
employees to maintain an anti-trafficking compliance plan that
includes, among other elements, a complaint mechanism and
procedures to prevent subcontractors at any tier from engaging
in trafficking in persons.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the worst
forms of child labor are among the most egregious forms of
abuse that humans commit against each other, for the sake of
commercial profit;
(2) the legislative and regulatory framework to prevent
goods produced by forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and
the worst forms of child labor from passing into the stream of
commerce in the United States is gravely inadequate;
(3) legislation is necessary to provide consumers
information on products that are free of child labor, forced
labor, slavery, and human trafficking; and
(4) through publicly available disclosures, businesses and
consumers can avoid inadvertently promoting or sanctioning
these crimes through production and purchase of goods and
products that have been tainted in the supply chains.
SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO EFFORTS TO COMBAT THE USE
OF FORCED LABOR, SLAVERY, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, OR THE
WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR.
Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m)
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(s) Disclosures Relating to Efforts To Combat the Use of Forced
Labor, Slavery, Trafficking in Persons, or the Worst Forms of Child
Labor.--
``(1) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Global Supply Chain Transparency for
Trafficking, Forced Labor, and Child Labor Eradication Act, the
Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall
promulgate regulations to require that any covered issuer
required to file reports with the Commission under this section
to include annually in such reports, a disclosure whether the
covered issuer has taken any measures during the year for which
such reporting is required to identify and address conditions
of forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the worst
forms of child labor within the covered issuer's supply chain,
and a description of such measures taken. Such disclosure shall
include, under the heading `Policies to Address Forced Labor,
Slavery, Human Trafficking, and the Worst Forms of Child
Labor', information describing to what extent, if any, the
covered issuer conducts any of the following activities:
``(A) Whether the covered issuer maintains a policy
to identify and eliminate the risks of forced labor,
slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms of
child labor within the covered issuer's supply chain
(such disclosure to include the text of the policy or
substantive description of the elements of the policy),
and actions the covered issuer has taken pursuant to or
in the absence of such policy.
``(B) Whether the covered issuer maintains a policy
prohibiting its employees and employees of entities
associated with its supply chain for engaging in
commercial sex acts with a minor.
``(C) The efforts of the covered issuer to evaluate
and address the risks of forced labor, slavery, human
trafficking, and the worst forms of child labor in the
product supply chain. If such efforts have been made,
such disclosure shall--
``(i) describe any risks identified within
the supply chain, and the measures taken toward
eliminating those risks;
``(ii) specify whether the evaluation was
or was not conducted by a third party;
``(iii) specify whether the process
includes consultation with the independent
labor organizations (as such term is defined in
section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act
(29 U.S.C. 152)), workers' associations, or
workers within workplaces and incorporates the
resulting input or written comments from such
independent labor organizations, workers'
associations, or workers and if so, the
disclosure shall describe the entities
consulted and specify the method of such
consultation; and
``(iv) specify the extent to which the
process covers entities within the supply
chain, including entities upstream in the
product supply chain and entities across lines
of products or services.
``(D) The efforts of the covered issuer to ensure
that audits of suppliers within the supply chain of the
covered issuer are conducted to--
``(i) investigate the working conditions
and labor practices of such suppliers;
``(ii) verify whether such suppliers have
in place appropriate systems to identify risks
of forced labor, slavery, human trafficking,
and the worst forms of child labor within their
own supply chain; and
``(iii) evaluate whether such systems are
in compliance with the policies of the covered
issuer or efforts in absence of such policies.
``(E) The efforts of the covered issuer to--
``(i) require suppliers in the supply chain
to attest that the manufacture of materials
incorporated into any product and the
recruitment of labor are carried out in
compliance with the laws regarding forced
labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the
worst forms of child labor of the country or
countries in which the covered issuer is doing
business;
``(ii) maintain internal accountability
standards, supply chain management, and
procurement systems, and procedures for
employees, suppliers, contractors, or other
entities within its supply chain failing to
meet the covered issuer's standards regarding
forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and
the worst forms of child labor, including a
description of such standards, systems, and
procedures;
``(iii) train the employees and management
who have direct responsibility for supply chain
management on issues related to forced labor,
slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms
of child labor, particularly with respect to
mitigating risks within the supply chains of
products; and
``(iv) ensure that labor recruitment
practices at all suppliers associated with the
supply chain comply with the covered issuer's
policies or efforts in absence of such policies
for eliminating exploitive labor practices that
contribute to forced labor, slavery, human
trafficking, and the worst forms of child
labor, including by complying with audits of
labor recruiters and disclosing the results of
such audits.
``(F) The efforts of the covered issuer in cases
where forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the
worst forms of child labor have been identified within
the supply chain, to ensure that remedial action is
provided to those who have identified as victims,
including support for programs designed to prevent the
recurrence of those events within the industry or
sector in which they have been identified.
``(2) Requirements for availability of information.--
``(A) In general.--The regulations promulgated
under paragraph (1) shall require--
``(i) that the required information be
disclosed by the covered issuer on the Internet
website of the covered issuer through a
conspicuous and easily understandable link to
the relevant information that shall be labeled
`Global Supply Chain Transparency'; and
``(ii) if an individual submits a written
request to the covered issuer for such
information, that the covered issuer provides
the individual with a written disclosure of the
required information under this section within
30 days of the receipt of such request.
``(B) Disclosure.--The Commission shall make
available to the public in a searchable format on the
Commission's website--
``(i) a list of covered issuers required to
disclose any measures taken by the company to
identify and address conditions of forced
labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the
worst forms of child labor within the covered
issuer's supply chain, as required by this
subsection; and
``(ii) a compilation of the information
submitted under the rules issued under
paragraph (1).
``(3) Definitions.--As used in this subsection--
``(A) the term `covered issuer' means an issuer
that has annual worldwide global receipts in excess of
$100,000,000;
``(B) the terms `forced labor', `slavery', and
`human trafficking' mean any labor practice or human
trafficking activity in violation of national and
international standards, including International Labor
Organization Convention No. 182, the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386),
and acts that would violate the criminal provisions
related to slavery and human trafficking under chapter
77 of title 18, United States Code, if they had been
committed within the jurisdiction of the United States;
``(C) the terms `remediation' and `remedial action'
mean the activities or systems that an issuer puts in
place to address non-compliance with the standards
identified through monitoring or verification, which
may apply to individuals adversely affected by the non-
compliant conduct or address broader systematic
processes;
``(D) the term `supply chain', with respect to a
covered issuer disclosing the information required
under the regulations promulgated under this section,
means all labor recruiters, suppliers of products,
component parts of products, and raw materials used by
such entity in the manufacturing of such entity's
products whether or not such entity has a direct
relationship with the supplier; and
``(E) the term `the worst forms of child labor'
means child labor in violation of national and
international standards, including International Labor
Organization Convention No. 182.''.
SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES ON WEBSITE OF DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Labor shall make available to the
public in a searchable format on the Department of Labor's website--
(1) a list of companies required to disclose any measures
taken by the company to identify and address conditions of
forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms
of child labor within the covered issuer's supply chain, as
required by section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as added by section 3; and
(2) a compilation of the information disclosed pursuant to
such requirements.
(b) Top 100 List.--The Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the
Secretary of State and other appropriate Federal and international
agencies, independent labor evaluators, and human rights groups, shall
annually develop and publish on the Internet website of the Department
of Labor a list of top 100 companies adhering to supply chain labor
standards, as established under relevant Federal and international
guidelines.
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