Bangladesh factory tragedy prompts UK to finalize first ever 'business and human rights policy'

LONDON: British companies setting up shop in Asian countries like India, China and Bangladesh will soon be bound by a new government policy to uphold safety and human rights of its workers.

The "Business and Human Rights policy" is being finalized jointly by Britain's foreign and commonwealth office (FCO) and the department of communities.

FCO says it used £750,000 of "Human Rights and Democracy programme budget" in 2012 to sponsor projects promoting business and human rights in Burma, China, Colombia, Congo, India and Uganda.

British embassies and high commissions are being roped in to promote responsible business behaviour and best practice.

In an exclusive interview to TOI, senior minister at the FCO Baroness Sayeeda Warsi confirmed the move.

She told TOI "At present, business and human rights are considered two separate issues and hence many companies don't have it as part of their worker's policy. Businesses also don't see human rights as an important issue to address. Several studies have confirmed that happy and well looked employees are more productive, better for business and take fewer sick leaves."

"We will soon come out with a binding business and human rights policy and will use Britain's 260 diplomatic missions to urge British companies working there to enforce it. We are presently working out how British business companies can be much more front footed in upholding human rights of its workers."

The need for such a guiding framework has become necessary after the recent building collapse in Bangladesh - one of the worst industrial tragedies that killed 1127 people.

The tragedy has prompted widespread criticism of international firms working with local garment producers in Asian countries without "proper measures upholding their human rights".

Several western firms, including UK high street retailer Primark and Tesco, Swedish retailing giant H&M and Inditex, owner of the Zara chain had factories inside the building in Bangladesh that collapsed.

The building had been illegally constructed and developed massive cracks in the days before its collapse. Workers were forced to continue work despite safety fears.

International garment companies meanwhile have agreed to sign a contract that requires them to conduct independent safety inspections of factories and cover the costs of repairs. The pact calls for them to pay up to $500,000 (£327,000) a year toward the effort and to stop doing business with any factory that refuses to make safety improvements.

Hundreds of factories have closed in Bangladesh due to recurrent worker unrest sparked by the disaster.

The UN has in place "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights" the guiding principles of which focus on the duty of states to protect individuals against human rights abuses by third parties, including business, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and the need for access by victims to both judicial and non-judicial remedies against abuse.

Baroness Warsi added "The UK expects to be one of the first states to publish a national strategy to implement the UN guiding principles in early 2013. Informed by the conviction that in order to inspire confidence as international political, trade and investment partners we need to uphold the rule of law and respect for human rights, this will set out the government's expectations for UK businesses to behave with respect for human rights wherever they operate."

The strategy was developed during 2012 under the supervision of a cross-government steering group.

It was informed by views gathered through a number of consultative workshops with multinational and small and medium-sized businesses from a variety of sectors including extraction and mining, finance, telecommunications and retail, as well as civil society groups.

(2013-05-17/timesofindia)