Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that North Korean workers are producing garments for Burberry Group Inc.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

We have made no such assessment.

The Modern Slavery Act, enacted last year, includes a demanding transparency in supply chains disclosure provision. This provision requires businesses operating in the UK, with an annual turnover of more than £36 million, to produce a slavery and human trafficking statement setting out the steps they have taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains or its own business.

The provision obliges eligible companies to publish this information on their website, with a conspicuous link from their homepage, so that consumers, investors and the general public know what steps businesses are taking in this regard.