Case: Ethical Trade Norway

Ethical Trade Norway is a resource center and advocate for sustainable business conduct and ethical trade. Together with our 200+ members from the private sector, public bodies, trade unions and civil society, we work actively to promote ethical trade which safeguards people, society and the environment. As a multi-stakeholder initiative, we enable stakeholders to collectively address complex and challenging issues that cannot be tackled by enterprises and organizations alone.

Ethical Trade Norway’s members have committed to promote and respect our Declaration of Principles. This entails, among other things, an obligation for members to actively work with due diligence for sustainable business conduct, and to use their influence to strengthen the support for, and knowledge of, ethical trade. Due diligence for responsible business conduct is a risk-based approach that requires enterprises to map, prevent and limit existing and potential negative consequences from their business operations, as well as communicate on how they address their negative impacts and risks. At the core of this work lie the United Nations’ «Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework” (UNGP), and the «OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct», which have both have been groundbreaking in ensuring international agreement on the approach and how to work towards sustainable business conduct through due diligence.

The Transparency Act  

The Norwegian Transparency Act, which entered into force on July 1st, 2022, has made it mandatory for large and medium sized enterprises to conduct human rights due diligence (HRDD), in accordance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The purpose of the Act is to promote enterprises’ respect for fundamental human rights and decent working conditions throughout their own operations and supply chains, as well as ensure the general public access to information on how enterprises address adverse impacts on these issues.

In addition to the duty to carry out HRDD, enterprises must therefore publish an annual account of their due diligence assessments. This has been mandatory for Ethical Trade Norway’s members also before the Act came into force, and reports from all members are made publicly available on our website. Furthermore, the Act gives anyone the right to request information from an enterprise about how they address actual and potential adverse impacts in their own operations and supply chain. The Transparency Act and its duty to carry out due diligence thus increases the need for enterprises to collaborate with suppliers in true partnership. The Act aims to promote continuous dialogue throughout the supply chain and has the potential to foster more stable partnerships where enterprises and suppliers increasingly take joint action to address and resolve challenges.

Read more about Ethical Trade Norway here.