Verité Publishes 14 Free Online Tools to Help Food & Beverage Companies Combat Human Trafficking in Supply Chains

AMHERST, Mass., April 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Verité, a civil society organization that promotes labor rights globally, has published a new set of free online tools designed to help food and beverage companies identify and mitigate human trafficking risk in their supply chains.

Created with support from the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the tools at ResponsibleSourcingTool.org offer "promising practices" and resources for any company that wishes to better identify, prevent, or address human trafficking or trafficking-related practices in its global supply chains. The site also provides implementation guidance for the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) "Ending Trafficking in Persons," which requires U.S. federal contractors to take concrete steps to address and prevent human trafficking in their supply chains.

Worker vulnerability to human trafficking is present throughout food and beverage supply chains. The U.S. Department of State's 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report noted trafficking risk in the agricultural sectors in over 90 countries, and migrant workers are highly prevalent in agricultural work, as well as associated food and beverage sectors such as food processing and food service. Deceptive recruitment practices and indebtedness to labor recruiters or employers often increase worker vulnerability. Food and beverage supply chains typically are also highly complex and opaque, making it difficult to trace products to the worksites that engage in unscrupulous labor practices and recruit labor from more vulnerable populations.

The food and beverage tools at ResponsibleSourcingTool.org help companies address these challenges. Offering both preventative and proactive measures that map and define supply chain actors, summarize known modes of trafficking risk, and provide resources and guideposts for industry actors across their supply chains, this set of 14 tools can serve as the foundation for an effective management systems approach to combating human trafficking in a supply chain.

For more information, contact Ilana Cohen at [email protected] or 413.253.9227.

Verité is a global, independent, civil society organization with a mission to ensure that people worldwide work under safe, fair, and legal conditions. As a pioneer in assessments, training, research, advocacy, and consulting on labor and human rights in global supply chains, the organization collaborates with companies, civil society groups, governments, workers, unions, and international organizations to promote genuinely sustainable workplace practices. 

Contact Info:
Ilana Cohen
Verité, Inc.
413.253.9227
[email protected]

SOURCE Verité