Promoting CSR and due diligence of the Dutch private sector operating abroad

The Government of the Netherlands aims to promote Corporate Social Responsibility in Dutch business sectors, including ethical recruitment and labor standards. In light of this objective, the Government recently published the CSR Sector Risk Assessment in collaboration with sectorial organizations, NGOs, trade unions, scientists and ministries. The assessment provides an analysis of the risks in the international value chains of 13 business sectors. It specifically identifies risks related to the exploitation of migrant workers and unethical recruitment practices in the sectors of construction, electronics and agriculture, while risks related to labor abuses were identified in all of the thirteen sectors selected for the study. The assessment was only a first step facilitated by the Government of The Netherlands in promoting the due diligence process of Dutch businesses and a starting point for a dialogue with the sectors involved.

An important element in this approach is that the government plays a stimulating, facilitating and enabling role in these dialogues. It is the idea that Dutch business sectors themselves indicate how they wish to promote due diligence in their value chains. The Government of the Netherlands, civil society and international organizations can provide support where needed. Ideally, Dutch business sectors and the Government of the Netherlands conclude covenants on how to further improve due diligence in the future.

An example of a business sector where unethical recruitment and exploitation of (migrant) workers in the value chain presents a high risk is the construction sector in the Middle East. The risks in these value chains extend from unethical recruitment practices in countries of origin, including human trafficking, to labor exploitation in the Middle East. Building on the responsibility of the (Dutch) business sector to operate in line with UN standards on CSR has proven to be rather effective in assessing and addressing exploitation and labor standards in the manufacturing industry in Bangladesh.

For more information: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/toespraken/2014/03/07/due-dilig…

GFMD 2015 - RT Session 1.2 "Reducing the human and financial costs of international migration, particularly labor migration: Cooperative approaches to fair recruitment practices and lower remittance fees".