The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) has welcomed North Ireland Minister for Justice David Ford’s comments and contribution to the debate on modern slavery, following the recent enactment of the UK Modern Slavery Act.
The Modern Slavery Act, which went into effect October 29th, requires UK businesses to be transparent about what they are trying to do to tackle human rights issues, not only in their own operations, but across their supply chain.
In a statement, Minister Ford said, “We have made good progress with new legislation, heightened awareness and better protection and support for victims. The commencement of this new Order is another important step forward.”
Aodhán Connolly, Director of the NIRC, commented, “We are not only welcoming of the stance that the Minister for Justice has made on this issue but are glad to see that he has highlighted the efforts of civil society to combat injustice.”
He added that UK retailers have campaigned to have the transparency clause inserting into the Modern Slavery Act and that the industry “has for many years worked to prevent the exploitation of workers through a number of voluntary measures.”
“We see the transparency requirements as a crucial step in enabling business to talk in a sensible way about the problem of modern slavery, the steps that can be taken to guard against it and, crucially, how to deal with it if it is uncovered in a supply chain,” Connolly concluded.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Jenny Whelan.
