Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle unsustainable (a) purchasing practices, (b) pricing structures and (c) business models by UK businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government expects all UK companies to respect human rights, workers’ rights and the environment throughout their operations and supply chains in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC). If there are concerns related to a multinational enterprise contravening the OECD Guidelines, a case can be raised with the Office for Responsible Business Conduct.
In the Trade Strategy, the Government also launched a review into the UK’s approach to RBC, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he expects the review of responsible business conduct to (a) conclude and (b) report any policy recommendations.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The Government is progressing the review at pace while ensuring that we harness the insight of a range of stakeholders. We will continue to provide regular updates as we progress the review.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation on (a) human rights and (b) environmental due diligence for businesses; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of this on (i) the resilience of UK supply chains and (ii) the livelihoods of global producers.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. It will have due regard to the effectiveness of any measures on supply chain resilience and the livelihoods of global producers.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make (a) human rights and (b) environmental due diligence mandatory for businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. It will have due regard to the effectiveness of any measures on supply chain resilience and the livelihoods of global producers.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure the views of producers in the Global South involved in UK supply chains are factored into (a) his Department's review of responsible business conduct and (b) any policy recommendations it makes.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.
Throughout the review, we will harness the insights and expertise of civil society and our international trading partners, as well as businesses, investors, trade unions and academia. Stakeholders will also be given the opportunity to feed into the National Baseline Assessment on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which will run in parallel and inform the review.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he plans to take to ensure that companies are held to account when they fail to prevent (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental harms in their supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all companies are legally obliged to prevent (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental harms in their supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the existing legislative framework for dealing with (a) human rights and (b) environmental harms in UK businesses supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct across the economy. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK's approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms.
The review will focus on the global supply chains of businesses operating in the UK. It will be a neutral, objective appraisal of policy, led by departmental officials. It will consider the effectiveness of the UK's current regime and the merits of alternative measures to support responsible business practices.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) revoking anti-dumping and (b) countervailing measures on non-folding e-bikes imported from China on UK cycle manufacturing.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7th May to question UIN 48699 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).
The Trade Remedies Authority is responsible for assessing the evidence presented to them by UK industry and other stakeholders in an investigation prior to submitting a recommendation to the Secretary of State. If industry is concerned about the impact of unfair foreign trade practices, they should directly engage the Trade Remedies Authority.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will consult stakeholders on the potential impact of the removal of anti-dumping and countervailing measures on non-folding e-bikes imported from China on UK cycle manufacturers.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7th May to question UIN 48699 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).
The Trade Remedies Authority is responsible for assessing the evidence presented to them by UK industry and other stakeholders in an investigation prior to submitting a recommendation to the Secretary of State. If industry is concerned about the impact of unfair foreign trade practices, they should directly engage the Trade Remedies Authority.