The OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains (OECD-FAO Guidance) (OECD/FAO, 2016[2]) and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct (OECD Due Diligence Guidance) (OECD, 2018[3]) help enterprises operationalise OECD risk-based due diligence consistent with internationally recognised standards on responsible business conduct such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines for MNEs), the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and ILO conventions on labour. Implementing these recommendations can help enterprises avoid and address adverse impacts related to workers, human rights, the environment, bribery, consumers and corporate governance that may be associated with their operations and supply chains and other business relationships (OECD/FAO, 2021[4]).
While businesses are generally aware of the need to respect human rights and support responsible business conduct, the practical implementation of risk-based due diligence to identify, prevent and address risks and adverse impacts remains a challenge. Implementation challenges persist particularly in complex and fragmented supply chains such as in the agricultural sector. In addition, businesses often have limited experience in engaging civil society, worker representatives and government actors to support effective due diligence and risk mitigation strategies in line with expectations set out by the United Nations (UN), the OECD and the International Labour Organization (ILO).1
This Handbook addresses these gaps by focusing on child labour and forced labour, which are recognised as salient human rights issues in the cocoa sector. This Handbook illustrates how companies can operationalise OECD risk-based due diligence to address child labour and forced labour risks and impacts in the cocoa supply chain. It is anticipated that this Handbook can also inspire company due diligence to address additional human rights risks in other agricultural supply chains.
The Handbook does not provide new recommendations, but rather explains how OECD recommendations on risk-based due diligence can be applied to address child labour and forced labour by contextualising existing recommendations and directing users towards helpful sources related to addressing these risks.
Finally, although the Handbook addresses the challenge of due diligence in cocoa supply chains globally, most examples come from West Africa.