Pilot on Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains in Southeast Asia (2019-2020)
Summary Note - November 2019

OVERVIEWOther, 223

companies along agricultural and seafood supplychains operating in Myanmar, the Philippines,
Thailand and Viet Nam are taking part in the OECD
Pilot on Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains in Southeast Asia
(SEA Pilot). This activity, which falls under the EU-ILO-OECD
Responsible Supply Chains in Asia Programme, aims to promote
understanding and uptake of supply chain due diligence
recommendations of the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible
Agricultural Supply Chains (OECD-FAO Guidance) and facilitate acommunity of learning among these 23 pilot participants.

Myanmar, 2Viet Nam, 2Philippines,
9Thailand,
8

Pilot participants by country

They represent a very diverse group of agribusiness companies
operating across the supply chain and countries, with 91% of them involved in cross-border trade. This diversity insize, focus, and scope of operations across agricultural supply chains provides valuable insight into the challenges
and opportunities for promoting responsible business conduct (RBC) in the region.

PILOT PARTICIPANTS OPERATE AT ALL STAGES OF AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN
Pilot participants include input suppliers, producers, food & beverage manufacturers, distributors, retailers andinvestors. Many of them are operating in multiple stages of their value chain and some participants have activities
along the entire value chain. 70% of companies are involved in processing and manufacturing, and 61% in trade anddistribution.
Upstream
Production

Downstream
Aggregation

Processing

Distribution

70%
48%

61%

39%

39%

30%

26%

Production

Post-harvest

Processing, manufacturing

Packaging

Trade, distribution

Retail, hospitality

TransportationCross-cutting

30%

Input

48%

Research and development

17%

Advisory/extension services

13%

Financial services

PILOT PARTICIPANTS BY COMMODITY
Pilot participants cover multiple commodity chains,such as banana, coconut, livestock, pineapple, rice,seafood (tuna, pangasius, etc.), sugar and tobacco,among others.
Aquaculture, fisheries
Beverages
Coconuts, nuts
Coffee, Tea
Feed, fodder
Fibre crops
FruitsGrains, pulses, root crops
Insects
Livestock
Palm oil
Rice
SeaweedSoy
Sugar
TobaccoVegetables
Other

PILOT PARTICIPANTS BY GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS OFOPERATIONS
74% of pilot participants have global focus and others
are active in the Asia regional markets. All are exportoriented and keen to learn how to meet international
expectations on responsible agricultural supply chains.
As such, the OECD-FAO Guidance, in particular the 5step framework for risk-based due diligence, is avaluable and practical tool for these companies.
National
9%
Regional
17%

Global74%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

PILOT PARTICIPANTS BY THE NUMBER OFEMPLOYEESThis diverse group of the pilot participants includes
both large national leaders with over 1,000 employees(44%) and small- and medium-sized companies (39%).

1-49
22%
1001+
44%
50-25017%

A baseline survey was rolled out in September 2019and shared with agribusiness companies in the region
beyond the pilot participants. The survey analysis will
provide an understanding of current due diligencepractices and capture broader RBC trends andchallenges in the region. Aggregated findings will bepresented in a report to be released in early 2020.
The OECD will organise up to 4 learning webinars in2020 with a focus on RBC risks and technical aspect ofdue diligence to address gaps in pilot participants’
understanding of the OECD-FAO Guidance
recommendations.
For more information, please see planned activities
and benefits to companies.

251-100017%_________________________________________________________________________________________CONTACT: OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct
Ms. Rena Hinoshita, Policy Analyst Rena.HINOSHITA@oecd.org
Ms. Shivani Kannabhiran, Policy Advisor Shivani.KANNABHIRAN@oecd.org
WEBSITE: OECD Responsible Business Conduct
Global Partnerships
http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/globalpartnerships
Responsible Agricultural Supply Chainshttps://mneguidelines.oecd.org/rbc-agriculture-supply-chains.htm

With funding by theEuropean Union