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In the Wake of Bonsucro: Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives and Third-Party Certifiers at the Test Bench of OECD National Contact Points

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2023

Elena Corcione Open the ORCID record for Elena Corcione [Opens in a new window]
Elena Corcione*
Affiliation:
Research Fellow in International Law at University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy
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Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In January 2022, the UK National Contact Point (UK NCP) issued a final statement in a specific instance claim brought against Bonsucro, a multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI) that aims to promote sustainable production of sugarcane. The claim alleged that Bonsucro had failed to comply with the OECD Guidelines because it had not carried out appropriate due diligence towards one of its members, accused of human rights abuses. While NCP complaints had been brought against MSIs and certifiers before, the UK NCP’s final statement is the first to recognize the leverage MSIs have over members due to their ability to deny membership and related reputational benefits to companies wishing to show sustainability logos, and to affirm their responsibility to use this leverage to avoid abuses. The statement sheds light on the accountability of actors involved in private voluntary sustainability standard systems, with possible impacts on other actors such as third-party certifiers.

Keywords

Ethical labelsmulti-stakeholder initiativesOECD National Contact Pointsthird-party certifiersvoluntary sustainability standards
Type
Developments in the Field
Information
Business and Human Rights Journal , Volume 8 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Beyond human rights due diligence: What else do we need? , June 2023 , pp. 271 - 276
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 UNFSS, Voluntary Sustainability Standards: Sustainability Agenda and Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges, 5th Flagship Report (October 2022), UNFSS/5/2022, 6, referring to years 2014–2018; International Institute for Sustainable Development, Global Market Report: Sugar (2019), https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ssi-global-market-report-sugar.pdf (accessed 5 April 2023).

2 HRC, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P Subedi, Addendum, A human rights analysis of economic and other land concessions in Cambodia’ A/HRC/21/63/Add. 1 (24 September 2012).

3 NCP UK, IDI, EC and LICADHO v Bonsucro Ltd. (11 January 2022), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/idi-ec-and-licadho-complaint-to-uk-ncp-about-bonsucro-ltd/final-statement-idi-ec-and-licadho-complaint-to-uk-ncp-about-bonsucro-ltd (accessed 9 June 2022). Specific instance (11 March 2019), https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/UK-NCP-Specific-Instance-Bonsucro-FINAL.pdf (accessed 31 January 2023).

4 NCP Switzerland, TuK Indonesia v RSPO (5 June 2019), https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/NKP/Statements_konkrete_Fälle/Sustainable_Palm_Oil_(2018)/RSPO_2019_Final_Statement.pdf.download.pdf/Final_Statement_Swiss_NCP_RSPO_TuK_for_publicationNCP_website.pdf (accessed 5 October 2022); NCP Italy, AEFFAA et al v RINA Services S.p.A. (9 December 2020), https://pcnitalia.mise.gov.it/attachments/article/2035928/Final%20Statement%20RINA_DEF.pdf (accessed 5 October 2022); NCP Germany, ECCHR et al v TÜV Rheinland and TÜV India (26 June 2018), https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/EN/Beschwerdefaelle-NKS/Abschliessende-Erklaerung/ecchr-against-tuev-rheinland.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=8 (accessed 5 October 2022). On the role and potential of NCPs, see Otteburn, Kari and Marx, Axel, ‘Seeking remedies for corporate human rights abuses: what is the contribution of OECD National Contact Points?’ in Marx, Axel, Wouters, Jan and Van Calster, Geert (eds.), Research Handbook on Global Governance, Business and Human Rights (Cheltenam: Edward Elgar, 2022) 229 Google Scholar.

5 On VSS ex multis Elizabeth A Bennett, ‘The efficacy of voluntary standards, sustainability certifications and ethical labels’ in Marx, Wouters and Van Calster (eds.), ibid, 177; Axel Marx et al, ‘Voluntary Sustainability Standards: State of the Art and Future Research’ (2022) 2 Standards 14.

6 Marx, Axel and Wouters, Jan, ‘Competition and cooperation in the market of voluntary sustainability standards’ in Delimatsis, Panagiotis (ed.), The Law, Economics and Politics of International Standardisation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) 215, 219–220 Google Scholar.

7 Brinks, Daniel et al, ‘Private regulatory initiatives, human rights and supply chain capitalism’ in Brinks, Daniel et al (eds.), Power, Participation and Private Regulatory Initiatives: Human Rights Under Supply Chain Capitalism (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021) 3, 18–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Marx and Wouters, note 6, 228–229.

9 On MSIs ex multis Justine Nolan, ‘Closing Gaps in the Chain: Regulating Respect for Human Rights in Global Supply Chains and the Role of Multi-stakeholder Initiatives’ in Brinks et al (eds.), note 7, 35.

10 Allison Loconto and Cora Dankers, Impact of International Voluntary Standards on Smallholder Market Participation in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature (FAO, 2014), 15.

11 Bonsucro official website: https://bonsucro.com/what-is-bonsucro/.

12 The Code of Conduct contains a generic commitment to human rights respect in sugarcane supply chain (art 1.2). Members have reporting commitment to Bonsucro and a grievance mechanism is provided in case of breaches (art 4–5).

13 Details of the business relationship between MP and its subsidiaries and the rights of the villagers under Cambodian law can be found in the case brief provided by Inclusive Development: https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mitr-Phol-Class-Action-Case-Brief.pdf (accessed 23 January 2023).

14 TNHRC, complaint no. 259/2013, investigation report no. 1003/2015 (12 October 2015), unofficial English translation, https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/thai-human-rights-commission-report_mitr-phol_unofficial-translation-1.pdf (accessed 23 January 2023).

15 Bangkok South Civil Court, Hoy Mai et al v Mitr Phol Co. Ltd. (28 March 2018). See case brief, note 13.

16 See the amended complaint at: https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Amended-Complaint-to-Bunsucro-re-Mitr-Phol-Group-05-February-2016.pdf (accessed 4 April 2023).

17 Specific instance, note 3, para 7.

18 NCP Switzerland, Initial assessment, https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/de/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/NKP/Statements_konkrete_Fälle/Sustainable_Palm_Oil_(2018)/Initial_Assessment_Sustainable_Palm_Oil_2018.pdf.download.pdf/SwissNCP_InitialAssessment_TuK_RSPO_for_publication.pdf (accessed 31 January 2023), para 6c.

19 Ibid, para 6d.

20 ECCHR et al v TÜV Rheinland and TÜV India, Specific instance, 26, 32.

21 AEFFAA et al v RINA Services S.p.A., Specific instance, 16, 21.

22 ECCHR et al v TÜV Rheinland and TÜV India, note 4, section C.

23 AEFFAA et al v RINA Services S.p.A., note 4, para 35.

24 OECD Guidelines, II, A.11-12; IV, 3, 5. For an overview on the current interpretation of such conducts under the UNGPs, see Van Ho, Tara, ‘Defining the Relationships: “Cause, Contribute, and Directly Linked to” in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’ (2021) 43 Human Rights Quarterly 634 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 OECD, Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct (OECD, 2018), 70 Google Scholar.

26 OECD Guidelines, IV, Commentary, 42.

27 Ramasastry, Anita, ‘Advisors or Enablers? Bringing Professional Service Providers into the Guiding Principles’ Fold’ (2021) 6 Business and Human Rights Journal 293 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 OHCHR, The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: An Interpretive Guide (2012), 49.

29 Park, Susan and Kramarz, Teresa (eds.), Global and Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2019), 70 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Partiti, Enrico, Regulating Transnational Sustainability Regimes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 28 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.