What is Responsible Business Conduct (RBC)?
The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises provide recommendations for RBC that align with sustainable development and respect for internationally recognised standards. These voluntary principles and standards are designed to help businesses operate responsibly in global contexts, ensuring they contribute positively to economic, environmental, and social progress.
What is RBC due diligence?
According to OECD Guidelines, enterprises should avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts on the matters covered by the Guidelines (Disclosure, Human Rights, Environment, Combatting Bribery and other forms of corruption, Consumer Interest, Science, Technology and Innovation, Competition and Taxation). They should also seek ways to prevent or mitigate impacts by their business relationships. Due diligence is the process by which enterprises should identify, prioritise, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address such impacts. Due diligence should include meaningful stakeholder engagement.
What is the Government's role?
As adopters of the OECD Guidelines, the UK is mandated to have a National Contact Point. A NCP is an agency to promote the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and related due diligence guidance, and to handle cases (referred to as “specific instances”) as a non-judicial grievance mechanism.
The Government recently announced in their Trade Strategy that they will replace the UK NCP with the Office for Responsible Business Conduct. This strengthened office will better reflect the importance of its mission and increase its visibility to all stakeholders. It will continue to sit within the Department for Business and Trade, and we will work to make it as effective as possible in supporting businesses to integrate responsible business practices and help victims of corporate malpractice through continuing to operate a non-judicial grievance mechanism.
The OECD made a series of recommendations on the role of Governments in promoting RBCs. Read here.
What’s Government’s position on RBC?
The Government has reaffirmed that all UK businesses should conduct risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence in line with the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the ILO Declaration on Multinational Enterprises. Regulations include Section 54 of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 (with new statutory guidance on Transparency in Supply Chains) and the UK Bribery Act 2010.
Commitment to Review:
DBT have announced they will review their approach to ensuring responsible business conduct, focusing on the global supply chains of businesses operating in the UK. Such measures considered include mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence.
Critically, any measures considered will promote a coordinated approach to responsible business issues that minimises administrative costs.
Interested? Find out more by getting in touch with Sophie De Salis
