Add your voice by signing the petition for the Responsible Business Conduct Law

IDVO and the Salvation Army are advocating for a law on Responsible Business Conduct. You can join in.

Companies that are transparent, operate sustainably, and value their workers. Holding those accountable that contribute to the violation of human rights and environmental standards. Sounds good, right?

We expect that this is the standard that companies are subjected to. Unfortunately, the reality is deplorably different. At this moment, there is no legislation that holds Dutch organisations accountable for their actions and the conditions in their supply chains. This needs to change.

A new bill in the Netherlands is on the horizon to make companies effectively ban forced labour, modern slavery, and environmental pollution from their production chains. The proposed bill has already received support from political parties: SP, GroenLinks, ChristenUnie and the PvdA. Now it is your turn to show your support. We need to increase public pressure to get the bill through, with the hopes of escalating this towards EU legislation.

Why is Fairfood behind this?
We at Fairfood believe that companies have the obligation to look at their supply chains and identify and tackle issues within them. The ones that are hurt most, are often the producers at the beginning of the supply chain, and organisations at the other end of the supply chain have the influence and the responsibility to do something about it. Paying the farmers who supply the Dutch population with coffee, cocoa, fruits, and more, a living income, making sure that they are treated fairly, and that production is not harming the environment are things that are becoming expectations and standards. Through transparency and structures to hold companies accountable if they fail to do so, we can collectively make the first steps towards Corporate Social Responsibility. 

“Our companies should not treat people or nature elsewhere in the world any differently than they do in the Netherlands. If they do not act responsibly on their own and cooperate with all kinds of abuses in the world, we will tackle them here in the Netherlands.” – Mahir Alkaya, SP MP