In March 2015, the UK Modern Slavery Act was enacted. It is designed to tackle slavery in the UK and consolidates previous offenses relating to trafficking and slavery.
Who is concerned?
Any entity that:
- Is a commercial organization (regardless of where the entity is incorporated or organized);
- Supplies goods or services;
- Has a global turnover of at least £36 million per year; and
- Carries on a business or part of its business in the U.K.
What is required?
Each fiscal year, the commercial organization defined by the Act must prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement stating the steps that the organization has taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in its supply chain or in its own business, or stating that no steps has been taken.
What is the deadline to submit the statement?
The deadline for publishing the statement is within the six months of the first fiscal year end that falls after March 31, 2016. For example, if your fiscal year ended on March 31, 2016, you will need to declare that your business and supply chain are free from human trafficking and slavery by September 30, 2016. This statement needs to be publically available and updated annually (section 54 Statement). The first submissions have already started. If you are affected by the Act, make sure you don’t miss your deadline to stay compliant with the UK Modern Slavery Act.
How can Transparency-One help?
Transparency-One helps companies map all their suppliers and subcontractors down to the lowest level in the supply chain regardless of where they are based. Each supplier and subcontractor would provide a specific certification stating the absence of slavery and human trafficking in their business. Companies can then see which companies have valid certifications and which do not, therefore gaining visibility into their entire supply chain – or they can prioritize specific product categories or even product components and manage those specific supply chains.
Modern slavery is at the forefront of global supply chain risk management, with regulations already passed in the US, the UK, and the EU. Other countries such as Canada are also tackling the modern slavery issue. Find more information on this topic in our article on “Transparency to unveil modern slavery”.
