Netherlands

Introduction [page 5]

The Netherlands encourages the business community to respect human rights. The aim is to prevent companies from abusing human rights either directly or within supply chains…The guiding principle is that businesses have a social responsibility to apply the same human rights norms both in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Current policy [page 9]

…The government expects companies operating abroad, in particular in countries where legislation or enforcement falls short, to pursue the same standards for CSR and human rights as they would in the Netherlands.

(…) As the government pointed out in A World to Gain, its policy document on aid and trade, International Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR) is a prerequisite for sustainable, inclusive growth. Companies bear a social responsibility for what goes on in their supply chains and for ensuring fair work under satisfactory conditions of employment. To prevent abuses in terms of working conditions, child labour, environment, corruption and human rights in their supply chains, the government expects companies to act in accordance with the OECD guidelines wherever possible. The government also holds them accountable for doing so.

The policy letter ‘Respect and Justice for All’ endorses the importance of integrated implementation of the Ruggie Framework and points to the responsibility of the business community in this respect. (…)

Human rights and trade missions [page 15]

(…) For the government, it is essential to encourage ICSR during trade missions, and it has now become a permanent feature of them. The government expects companies represented in a trade mission to look into the possible adverse effects of their operations on communities, including on human rights, in the country in question, and to pursue policies to mitigate them.

Legislation with extraterritorial application [page 38]

(…) The government would point out that extraterritorial application alone is not enough. A court judgment must also be enforceable, and it is not up to the Netherlands to decide for other countries whether this is possible. The government is therefore not convinced that legislation with extraterritorial impacts will contribute to preventing human rights abuses by foreign companies in the countries in which they are active. There is also too little international support for an international, legally-binding instrument.