ABA Model Business and Supplier Policies on Labor Trafficking and Child Labor

The Working Group

Business enterprises are in a unique position to combat the widely condemned practice of human trafficking through their exercise of market power. ABA President Laurel Bellows (2012-13) devoted much of her term to fighting this scourge. As part of that initiative, during the fall of 2012, she asked the Section of Business Law to create a Working Group, which aims to help business enterprises and their lawyers play their part in ending human trafficking. The Working Group consists of over 50 leading business experts: judges, in house and outside counsel, as well as NGO, academic and governmental representatives.

Model Policies Background and Materials

The Working Group released the ABA Model Business and Supplier Policies on Labor Trafficking and Child Labor (the “Model Policies”) at the 2014 ABA Mid-Year Meeting, where, the ABA House of Delegates adopted one key portion of the Model Policies as official ABA policy. Specifically, only Part II: Model Principles constitutes official ABA policy. Although the remainder of the Model Policies and Database of Resources should not be construed as the official policy of the ABA, they are still useful resources. The Working Group provides them for informational purposes and as additional references for businesses and business lawyers to consult.

Information about the Model Policies includes the following materials:

• Overview and Structure
• ABA Model Principles
• The Model Policies
• ABA House of Delegates Approval Materials

Database of Resources

This Database contains a wealth of information not only concerning the Model Principles and Policies but also with respect to the supply chain transparency arena. This includes Articles and Presentations; General Resources with links to the web pages of Government entities, NGOs and others; New Developments in the supply chain transparency arena; and Law and Policy issues including descriptions of the issue and commentary concerning it. Annotated Model Policies will be added shortly, as will company provided policies and training materials.

Disclaimer

Only the Model Principles portion (Part II only) of the ABA Model Business and Supplier Policies on Labor Trafficking and Child Labor constitutes official ABA policy.  All other items posted on the Database of Resources website, except Resolutions identified as being adopted by the ABA House of Delegates or Board of Governors, are provided for informational purposes only.  These include, but are not limited to: The remaining portions of the Model Policies (Parts I and III-VI), Annotations to the Model Policies, and all other background and reference materials.