OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector 2023: Contracts and HREDD Legislation

It is widely known that contracts are frequently used tools for carrying out human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD). Frequency of use is not tantamount to effective use, however, and the two should not be confused. The new HREDD laws coming from Europe have raised concern precisely because they appear to rely on contracts as proxies for—not merely components of—HREDD. Otherwise put, the concern is that the new laws will establish a contract-based due diligence regime oriented toward compliance (“tick-box”), rather than an HREDD regime that is supported by due diligence-aligned contracts and oriented toward achieving better HRE outcomes in global supply chains. This side-session will invite legal and business and human rights experts to address the following questions: How are contracts typically used in HREDD? Does contracting-as-usual support effective HREDD -why/why not? What do the new laws say about contracts and the role they should play in HREDD?