I
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 6279
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 traf-
ficking, and the worst forms of child labor within the company’s supply
chains.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 13, 2020
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
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 Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Business Supply Chain
4
Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2020’’.
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.
1
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
2
(1) In 2014, the Department of Labor identi-
3
fied 136 goods from 74 countries around the world
4
made by forced labor and child labor.
5
(2) The United States is the world’s largest im-
6
porter, and in the 21st century, investors, con-
7
sumers, and broader civil society increasingly de-
8
mand information about the human rights impact of
9
products in the United States market.
10
(3) Courts have ruled that consumers do not
11
have standing to bring a civil action in United
12
States courts for enforcement of a provision in the
13
Smoot Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 prohibiting impor-
14
tation of goods made with forced labor or convict
15
labor, and furthermore, the provision has a broad
16
exception for goods that cannot be produced in the
17
United States in sufficient quantities to meet the de-
18
mands of American consumers from tainted goods,
19
consequently, there are fewer than 40 enforcement
20
actions on record in the past 80 years.
21
(4) Mechanisms under Federal law to prevent
22
and punish perpetrators of forced labor, slavery,
23
human trafficking, and the worst forms of child
24
labor in the stream of commerce suffer from prob-
25
lems of limited scope, broad expectations, and lack
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of available information about goods that are pro-
1
duced along supply chains tainted by these crimes
2
and imported by the United States.
3
(5) The Trafficking Victims Protection Reau-
4
thorization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–193) to-
5
gether with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
6
of 2005 (Public Law 109–164) provide for the ter-
7
mination of Federal contracts where a Federal con-
8
tractor or subcontractor engages in severe forms of
9
trafficking in persons or has procured a commercial
10
sex act during the period of time that the grant,
11
contract, or cooperative agreement is in effect, or
12
uses forced labor in the performance of the grant,
13
contract, or cooperative agreement. The Trafficking
14
Victims Protection Act of 2005 also provides United
15
States courts with criminal jurisdiction abroad over
16
Federal employees, contractors, or subcontractors
17
who participate in severe forms of trafficking in per-
18
sons or forced labor.
19
(6) Executive Order 13126, Prohibition of Ac-
20
quisition of Products Produced by Forced or Inden-
21
tured
Child
Labor,
Executive
Order
13627,
22
Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking In
23
Persons In Federal Contracts, and title XVII of the
24
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
25
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2013 (Public Law 112–239) have prohibited Federal
1
contractors, subcontractors, and their employees
2
from engaging in the following trafficking-related ac-
3
tivities: charging labor recruitment fees; confiscating
4
passports and other identity documents of workers;
5
and using fraudulent recruitment practices, includ-
6
ing failing to disclose basic information or making
7
material misrepresentations about the terms and
8
conditions of employment. Such Executive order and
9
Acts also require Federal contractors, subcontrac-
10
tors, and their employees to maintain an anti-traf-
11
ficking compliance plan that includes, among other
12
elements, a complaint mechanism and procedures to
13
prevent subcontractors at any tier in the supply
14
chain from engaging in trafficking in persons.
15
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
16
gress that—
17
(1) forced labor, slavery, human trafficking,
18
and the worst forms of child labor are among the
19
most egregious forms of abuse that humans commit
20
against each other, for the sake of commercial prof-
21
it;
22
(2) the legislative and regulatory framework to
23
prevent goods produced by forced labor, slavery,
24
human trafficking, and the worst forms of child
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labor from passing into the stream of commerce in
1
the United States is gravely inadequate;
2
(3) legislation is necessary to provide consumers
3
information on products that are free of child labor,
4
forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking; and
5
(4) through publicly available disclosures, busi-
6
nesses and consumers can avoid inadvertently pro-
7
moting or sanctioning these crimes through produc-
8
tion and purchase of raw materials, goods and fin-
9
ished products that have been tainted in the supply
10
chains.
11
SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO EF-
12
FORTS TO COMBAT THE USE OF FORCED
13
LABOR, SLAVERY, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS,
14
OR THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR.
15
Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
16
(15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the
17
following new subsection:
18
‘‘(s) DISCLOSURES RELATING TO EFFORTS TO COM-
19
BAT
THE USE
OF FORCED LABOR, SLAVERY, TRAF-
20
FICKING IN PERSONS, OR THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD
21
LABOR.—
22
‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year
23
after the date of enactment of the Business Supply
24
Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act
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of 2020, the Commission, in consultation with the
1
Secretary of State, shall promulgate regulations to
2
require that any covered issuer required to file re-
3
ports with the Commission under this section to in-
4
clude annually in such reports, a disclosure whether
5
the covered issuer has taken any measures during
6
the year for which such reporting is required to
7
identify and address conditions of forced labor, slav-
8
ery, human trafficking, and the worst forms of child
9
labor within the covered issuer’s supply chain, and
10
a description of such measures taken. Such disclo-
11
sure shall include, under the heading ‘Policies to Ad-
12
dress Forced Labor, Slavery, Human Trafficking,
13
and the Worst Forms of Child Labor’, information
14
describing to what extent, if any, the covered issuer
15
conducts any of the following activities:
16
‘‘(A) Whether the covered issuer maintains
17
a policy to identify and eliminate the risks of
18
forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and
19
the worst forms of child labor within the cov-
20
ered issuer’s supply chain (such disclosure to
21
include the text of the policy or substantive de-
22
scription of the elements of the policy), and ac-
23
tions the covered issuer has taken pursuant to
24
or in the absence of such policy.
25
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‘‘(B) Whether the covered issuer maintains
1
a policy prohibiting its employees and employ-
2
ees of entities associated with its supply chain
3
from engaging in commercial sex acts with a
4
minor.
5
‘‘(C) The efforts of the covered issuer to
6
evaluate and address the risks of forced labor,
7
slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms
8
of child labor in the product supply chain. If
9
such efforts have been made, such disclosure
10
shall—
11
‘‘(i) describe any risks identified with-
12
in the supply chain, and the measures
13
taken toward eliminating those risks;
14
‘‘(ii) specify whether the evaluation
15
was or was not conducted by a third party;
16
‘‘(iii) specify whether the process in-
17
cludes consultation with the independent
18
labor organizations (as such term is de-
19
fined in section 2 of the National Labor
20
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152)), workers’
21
associations, or workers within workplaces
22
and incorporates the resulting input or
23
written comments from such independent
24
labor organizations, workers’ associations,
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or workers and if so, the disclosure shall
1
describe the entities consulted and specify
2
the method of such consultation; and
3
‘‘(iv) specify the extent to which the
4
process covers entities within the supply
5
chain, including entities upstream in the
6
product supply chain and entities across
7
lines of products or services throughout the
8
covered issuer’s product manufacturing.
9
‘‘(D) The efforts of the covered issuer to
10
ensure that audits of suppliers within the sup-
11
ply chain of the covered issuer are conducted
12
to—
13
‘‘(i) investigate the working conditions
14
and labor practices of such suppliers;
15
‘‘(ii) verify whether such suppliers
16
have in place appropriate systems to iden-
17
tify risks of forced labor, slavery, human
18
trafficking, and the worst forms of child
19
labor within their own supply chain; and
20
‘‘(iii) evaluate whether such systems
21
are in compliance with the policies of the
22
covered issuer or efforts in absence of such
23
policies.
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‘‘(E) The efforts of the covered issuer to—
25
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‘‘(i) require suppliers in the supply
1
chain to attest that the manufacture of
2
materials incorporated into any product
3
and the recruitment of labor are carried
4
out in compliance with the laws regarding
5
forced labor, slavery, human trafficking,
6
and the worst forms of child labor;
7
‘‘(ii) maintain internal accountability
8
standards, supply chain management, and
9
procurement systems, and reporting proce-
10
dures for employees, suppliers, contractors,
11
or other entities within its supply chain
12
failing to meet the covered issuer’s stand-
13
ards
regarding
forced
labor,
slavery,
14
human trafficking, and the worst forms of
15
child labor, including a description of such
16
standards, systems, and procedures;
17
‘‘(iii) train the employees and man-
18
agement who have direct responsibility for
19
supply chain management on issues related
20
to forced labor, slavery, human trafficking,
21
and the worst forms of child labor, particu-
22
larly with respect to mitigating risks within
23
the supply chains of products; and
24
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‘‘(iv) ensure that labor recruitment
1
practices at all suppliers associated with
2
the supply chain comply with the covered
3
issuer’s policies or efforts in absence of
4
such policies for eliminating exploitive
5
labor practices that contribute to forced
6
labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the
7
worst forms of child labor, including by
8
complying with audits of labor recruiters
9
and disclosing the results of such audits.
10
‘‘(F) The efforts of the covered issuer in
11
cases where forced labor, slavery, human traf-
12
ficking, and the worst forms of child labor have
13
been identified within the supply chain, to en-
14
sure that remedial action is provided to those
15
who have identified as victims, including sup-
16
port for programs designed to prevent the re-
17
currence of those events within the industry or
18
sector in which they have been identified.
19
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AVAILABILITY OF IN-
20
FORMATION.—
21
‘‘(A)
DISCLOSURE
ON
COMPANY
22
WEBSITE.—The regulations promulgated under
23
paragraph (1) shall require that the required
24
information be disclosed by the covered issuer
25
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on the Internet website of the covered issuer
1
through a conspicuous and easily understand-
2
able link to the relevant information that shall
3
be labeled ‘Global Supply Chain Transparency’.
4
‘‘(B)
DISCLOSURE
ON
COMMISSION
5
WEBSITE.—The Commission shall make avail-
6
able to the public in a searchable format on the
7
Commission’s website—
8
‘‘(i) a list of covered issuers required
9
to disclose any measures taken by the com-
10
pany to identify and address conditions of
11
forced labor, slavery, human trafficking,
12
and the worst forms of child labor within
13
the covered issuer’s supply chain, as re-
14
quired by this subsection; and
15
‘‘(ii) a compilation of the information
16
submitted under the rules issued under
17
paragraph (1).
18
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this sub-
19
section—
20
‘‘(A) the term ‘covered issuer’ means an
21
issuer that has annual worldwide global receipts
22
in excess of $100,000,000;
23
‘‘(B) the terms ‘forced labor’, ‘slavery’, and
24
‘human trafficking’ mean any labor practice or
25
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human trafficking activity in violation of na-
1
tional and international standards, including
2
International Labor Organization Convention
3
No. 182, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
4
of 2000 (Public Law 106–386), and acts that
5
would violate t
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]