USA – Guidance to business
Section II: Priority Areas of the National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct
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- Priority Area (4) Providing Resources to Businesses: “[…] To provide clear guidance to businesses so they may develop informed policies and practices, the USG will establish the RBC and Labor Rights InfoHub, an online repository to communicate an all-of-government point of view, approach, and suite of resources to advance labor rights outcomes in business operations and value chains. […] Under the NAP, new guidance beyond labor rights will be developed such as due diligence guidance for investors considering investments in technologies that could enable or exacerbate human rights abuses and business advisories for companies, investors, and other stakeholders who do business in or engage in transactions involving specific countries, regions, or sectors with heightened human rights risk. This week, we released U.S. Guidance for Online Platforms on Protecting Human Rights Defenders Online and will soon release guidance on Tribal Consultation and Engagement With Indigenous and Affected Communities.” (p.13-14)
Section III: Additional National Action Plan Commitments
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Table 1: Expanding Engagement and Coordination on Responsible Business Conduct Commitments
The Department of State will “leverage its Chairship (Chair through May 2025) of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Initiative (VPI) to make meaningful governance reforms and expand membership of the Initiative to include other land-intensive industries. The VPI is a multistakeholder initiative that provides guidance to companies on providing security for their operations in a manner that respects human rights.”
“Through the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade (PPA), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will promote increased alignment of industry operations and governance mechanisms to the OECD Guidance and local governance expectations; amplify insights from high-quality independent data that identify key barriers to impactful due diligence; and test and analyze solutions to these challenges. The PPA is a global partnership between civil society, the USG, and the private sector to leverage members’ knowledge, networks, and experience to inform global responsible minerals sourcing.”
(p.17)
Table 2: Procurement Commitments
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, CBP will draft guidance to direct the proactive consideration on a case-by-case basis, suspension and debarment whenever CBP issues a penalty under the customs laws for repeated violations of 19 U.S.C. § 1307 or other laws CBP enforces to combat forced labor. The guidance will also encourage consideration of suspension and debarment on a case-by-case basis when CBP issues withhold release orders (WROs) or Findings against entities or individuals. Suspension and debarment actions prevent agencies from contracting or engaging in other covered transactions directly with an entity or individual who is not presently responsible to do business with the federal government. Suspension and debarment also prevents contractors already in the federal marketplace from subcontracting with excluded entities.” (p.19)
Table 4: Technology Commitments
The Department of State will, in consultation with relevant interagency partners, “lead development of guidance to encourage investors to conduct HRDD when considering investments in technologies that could enable or exacerbate human rights abuses. State, in consultation with civil society, including labor organizations, and private equity and venture capital investors, will develop guidance to discuss downstream risk factors associated with the misuse of technology, potential safeguards throughout the product lifecycle, how investors can influence business decisions in companies whose technologies have been proven to enable human rights abuses if used improperly, and best practices in conducting HRDD.” (p.27)
The Department of State is “releasing U.S. Guidance for Online Platforms on Protecting HRDs. The USG, building upon joint guidance released with the European Union through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, is publishing detailed guidance for online platforms on how companies can effectively collaborate and coordinate with civil society and other relevant stakeholders to identify, address, mitigate, prevent, and enable access to remedies for online threats and attacks against HRDs.” (p.28-29)
Table 5: Workers’ Rights Commitments
The Bureau of International Labor Affairs will “launch an online RBC and Labor Rights Information Hub to communicate a clear point of view, expectations for RBC, and a whole-of government approach to labor rights throughout business operations and supply chains of U.S. companies. The RBC InfoHub will provide a central repository of USG agency guidance, tools, and resources to facilitate and incentivize adoption of effective corporate accountability models and practices relevant to labor rights outcomes in business supply chains as well as with U.S. government procurement and accountability officers to facilitate efforts to conduct due diligence.” (p.32)