I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4842 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2014 

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, and in addition to the Committee on Education 

and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Business Supply Chain 

3 Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) In 2012, the Department of Labor identi7 fied 134 goods from 74 countries around the world 

8 made by forced labor and child labor. 

9 (2) The United States is the world’s largest im10 porter, and in the 21st century, investors, con11 sumers, and broader civil society increasingly de12 mand information about the human rights impact of 

13 products in the United States market. 

14 (3) Courts have also ruled that consumers do 

15 not have standing to bring a civil action in United 

16 States courts for enforcement of this provision of the 

17 Tariff Act, because the legislative intent was to pro18 tect American manufacturers from unfairly priced 

19 goods, not to protect consumers from tainted goods, 

20 consequently, there are fewer than 40 enforcement 

21 actions on record in the past 80 years. 

22 (4) Mechanisms under Federal law related to 

23 forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the 

24 worst forms of child labor in the stream of com25 merce suffer from similar problems of limited scope, 

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1 broad expectations, and inability to provide informa2 tion about specific supplies whose goods are tainted. 

3 (5) The United Nations Guiding Principles on 

4 Business and Human Rights affirm that business 

5 enterprises have a responsibility to respect human 

6 rights, and that States have a duty to ensure these 

7 rights are protected. Such Guiding Principles also 

8 clarify that the duty to protect against business-re9 lated human rights abuses requires States to take 

10 the necessary steps to prevent and address human 

11 rights abuses to workers through effective policies 

12 and regulation. 

13 (6) The Trafficking Victims Protection Reau14 thorization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–193) to15 gether with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 

16 of 2005 (Public Law 109–164) provide for the ter17 mination of Federal contracts where a Federal con18 tractor or subcontractor engages in severe forms of 

19 trafficking in persons or has procured a commercial 

20 sex act during the period of time that the grant, 

21 contract, or cooperative agreement is in effect, or 

22 uses forced labor in the performance of the grant, 

23 contract, or cooperative agreement. The Trafficking 

24 Victims Protection Act of 2005 also provide United 

25 States courts with criminal jurisdiction abroad over 

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1 Federal employees, contractors, or subcontractors 

2 who participate in severe forms of trafficking in per3 sons or forced labor. 

4 (7) Executive Order 13126, Prohibition of Ac5 quisition of Products Produced by Forced or Inden6 tured Child Labor, Executive Order 13627, 

7 Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking In 

8 Persons In Federal Contracts, and title XVII of the 

9 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

10 2013 (Public Law 112–239) have prohibited Federal 

11 contractors, subcontractors, and their employees 

12 from engaging in the following trafficking-related ac13 tivities: charging labor recruitment fees; confiscating 

14 passports and other identity documents of workers; 

15 and using fraudulent recruitment practices, includ16 ing failing to disclose basic information or making 

17 material misrepresentations about the terms and 

18 conditions of employment. Such Executive order and 

19 Acts also require Federal contractors, subcontrac20 tors, and their employees to maintain an anti-traf21 ficking compliance plan that includes, among other 

22 elements, a complaint mechanism and procedures to 

23 prevent subcontractors at any tier from engaging in 

24 trafficking in persons. 

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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that— 

3 (1) forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, 

4 and the worst forms of child labor are among the 

5 most egregious forms of abuse that humans commit 

6 against each other, for the sake of commercial prof7 it; 

8 (2) the legislative and regulatory framework to 

9 prevent goods produced by forced labor, slavery, 

10 human trafficking, and the worst forms of child 

11 labor from passing into the stream of commerce in 

12 the United States is gravely inadequate; 

13 (3) legislation is necessary to provide consumers 

14 information on products that are free of child labor, 

15 forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking; and 

16 (4) through publicly available disclosures, busi17 nesses and consumers can avoid inadvertently pro18 moting or sanctioning these crimes through produc19 tion and purchase of goods and products that have 

20 been tainted in the supply chains. 

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1 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO EF2 FORTS TO COMBAT THE USE OF FORCED 

3 LABOR, SLAVERY, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, 

4 OR THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR. 

5 Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

6 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(s) DISCLOSURES RELATING TO EFFORTS TO COM9 BAT THE USE OF FORCED LABOR, SLAVERY, TRAF10 FICKING IN PERSONS, OR THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD

11 LABOR.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 

13 after the date of enactment of the Global Supply 

14 Chain Transparency for Trafficking, Forced Labor, 

15 and Child Labor Eradication Act, the Commission, 

16 in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall 

17 promulgate regulations to require that any covered 

18 issuer required to file reports with the Commission 

19 under this section to include annually in such re20 ports, a disclosure whether the covered issuer has 

21 taken any measures during the year for which such 

22 reporting is required to identify and address condi23 tions of forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and 

24 the worst forms of child labor within the covered 

25 issuer’s supply chain, and a description of such 

26 measures taken. Such disclosure shall include, under 

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1 the heading ‘Policies to Address Forced Labor, Slav2 ery, Human Trafficking, and the Worst Forms of 

3 Child Labor’, information describing to what extent, 

4 if any, the covered issuer conducts any of the fol5 lowing activities: 

6 ‘‘(A) Whether the covered issuer maintains 

7 a policy to identify and eliminate the risks of 

8 forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and 

9 the worst forms of child labor within the cov10 ered issuer’s supply chain (such disclosure to 

11 include the text of the policy or substantive de12 scription of the elements of the policy), and ac13 tions the covered issuer has taken pursuant to 

14 or in the absence of such policy. 

15 ‘‘(B) Whether the covered issuer maintains 

16 a policy prohibiting its employees and employ17 ees of entities associated with its supply chain 

18 for engaging in commercial sex acts with a 

19 minor. 

20 ‘‘(C) The efforts of the covered issuer to 

21 evaluate and address the risks of forced labor, 

22 slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms 

23 of child labor in the product supply chain. If 

24 such efforts have been made, such disclosure 

25 shall— 

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1 ‘‘(i) describe any risks identified with2 in the supply chain, and the measures 

3 taken toward eliminating those risks; 

4 ‘‘(ii) specify whether the evaluation 

5 was or was not conducted by a third party; 

6 ‘‘(iii) specify whether the process in7 cludes consultation with the independent 

8 labor organizations (as such term is de9 fined in section 2 of the National Labor 

10 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152)), workers’ 

11 associations, or workers within workplaces 

12 and incorporates the resulting input or 

13 written comments from such independent 

14 labor organizations, workers’ associations, 

15 or workers and if so, the disclosure shall 

16 describe the entities consulted and specify 

17 the method of such consultation; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) specify the extent to which the 

19 process covers entities within the supply 

20 chain, including entities upstream in the 

21 product supply chain and entities across 

22 lines of products or services. 

23 ‘‘(D) The efforts of the covered issuer to 

24 ensure that audits of suppliers within the supmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ply chain of the covered issuer are conducted 

2 to— 

3 ‘‘(i) investigate the working conditions 

4 and labor practices of such suppliers; 

5 ‘‘(ii) verify whether such suppliers 

6 have in place appropriate systems to iden7 tify risks of forced labor, slavery, human 

8 trafficking, and the worst forms of child 

9 labor within their own supply chain; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) evaluate whether such systems 

11 are in compliance with the policies of the 

12 covered issuer or efforts in absence of such 

13 policies. 

14 ‘‘(E) The efforts of the covered issuer to— 

15 ‘‘(i) require suppliers in the supply 

16 chain to attest that the manufacture of 

17 materials incorporated into any product 

18 and the recruitment of labor are carried 

19 out in compliance with the laws regarding 

20 forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, 

21 and the worst forms of child labor of the 

22 country or countries in which the covered 

23 issuer is doing business; 

24 ‘‘(ii) maintain internal accountability 

25 standards, supply chain management, and 

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1 procurement systems, and procedures for 

2 employees, suppliers, contractors, or other 

3 entities within its supply chain failing to 

4 meet the covered issuer’s standards regard5 ing forced labor, slavery, human traf6 ficking, and the worst forms of child labor, 

7 including a description of such standards, 

8 systems, and procedures; 

9 ‘‘(iii) train the employees and man10 agement who have direct responsibility for 

11 supply chain management on issues related 

12 to forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, 

13 and the worst forms of child labor, particu14 larly with respect to mitigating risks within 

15 the supply chains of products; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) ensure that labor recruitment 

17 practices at all suppliers associated with 

18 the supply chain comply with the covered 

19 issuer’s policies or efforts in absence of 

20 such policies for eliminating exploitive 

21 labor practices that contribute to forced 

22 labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the 

23 worst forms of child labor, including by 

24 complying with audits of labor recruiters 

25 and disclosing the results of such audits. 

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1 ‘‘(F) The efforts of the covered issuer in 

2 cases where forced labor, slavery, human traf3 ficking, and the worst forms of child labor have 

4 been identified within the supply chain, to en5 sure that remedial action is provided to those 

6 who have identified as victims, including sup7 port for programs designed to prevent the re8 currence of those events within the industry or 

9 sector in which they have been identified. 

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AVAILABILITY OF IN11 FORMATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The regulations pro13 mulgated under paragraph (1) shall require— 

14 ‘‘(i) that the required information be 

15 disclosed by the covered issuer on the 

16 Internet website of the covered issuer 

17 through a conspicuous and easily under18 standable link to the relevant information 

19 that shall be labeled ‘Global Supply Chain 

20 Transparency’; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) if an individual submits a written 

22 request to the covered issuer for such in23 formation, that the covered issuer provides 

24 the individual with a written disclosure of 

25 the required information under this section 

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1 within 30 days of the receipt of such re2 quest. 

3 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE.—The Commission shall 

4 make available to the public in a searchable for5 mat on the Commission’s website— 

6 ‘‘(i) a list of covered issuers required 

7 to disclose any measures taken by the com8 pany to identify and address conditions of 

9 forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, 

10 and the worst forms of child labor within 

11 the covered issuer’s supply chain, as re12 quired by this subsection; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) a compilation of the information 

14 submitted under the rules issued under 

15 paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this sub17 section— 

18 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered issuer’ means an 

19 issuer that has annual worldwide global receipts 

20 in excess of $100,000,000; 

21 ‘‘(B) the terms ‘forced labor’, ‘slavery’, and 

22 ‘human trafficking’ mean any labor practice or 

23 human trafficking activity in violation of na24 tional and international standards, including 

25 International Labor Organization Convention 

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1 No. 182, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 

2 of 2000 (Public Law 106–386), and acts that 

3 would violate the criminal provisions related to 

4 slavery and human trafficking under chapter 77 

5 of title 18, United States Code, if they had 

6 been committed within the jurisdiction of the 

7 United States; 

8 ‘‘(C) the terms ‘remediation’ and ‘remedial 

9 action’ mean the activities or systems that an 

10 issuer puts in place to address non-compliance 

11 with the standards identified through moni12 toring or verification, which may apply to indi13 viduals adversely affected by the non-compliant 

14 conduct or address broader systematic proc15 esses; 

16 ‘‘(D) the term ‘supply chain’, with respect 

17 to a covered issuer disclosing the information 

18 required under the regulations promulgated 

19 under this section, means all labor recruiters, 

20 suppliers of products, component parts of prod21 ucts, and raw materials used by such entity in 

22 the manufacturing of such entity’s products 

23 whether or not such entity has a direct relation24 ship with the supplier; and 

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1 ‘‘(E) the term ‘the worst forms of child 

2 labor’ means child labor in violation of national 

3 and international standards, including Inter4 national Labor Organization Convention No. 

5 182.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES ON WEBSITE OF DEPARTMENT OF 

7 LABOR. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

9 make available to the public in a searchable format on the 

10 Department of Labor’s website— 

11 (1) a list of companies required to disclose any 

12 measures taken by the company to identify and ad13 dress conditions of forced labor, slavery, human traf14 ficking, and the worst forms of child labor within the 

15 covered issuer’s supply chain, as required by section 

16 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as 

17 added by section 3; and 

18 (2) a compilation of the information disclosed 

19 pursuant to such requirements. 

20 (b) TOP 100 LIST.—The Secretary of Labor, in con21 sultation with the Secretary of State and other appro22 priate Federal and international agencies, independent 

23 labor evaluators, and human rights groups, shall annually 

24 develop and publish on the Internet website of the Depart25 ment of Labor a list of top 100 companies adhering to 

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1 supply chain labor standards, as established under rel2 evant Federal and international guidelines. 

Æ 

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