A member of Hong Kong’s legislative council, Dennis Kwok, is proposing a new law on modern slavery. The draft bill is similar in content to the UK’s Modern Slavery Act and, if passed, would impose impose annual reporting requirements for businesses as well as in addition to criminal offenses and a civil cause of action against persons or entities committing or benefiting from modern slavery.
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre reports:
Bodies corporate and partnerships conducting business in Hong Kong whose turnover exceeds a threshold amount would each financial year be required to publish a slavery and human trafficking statement. The turnover threshold is proposed to be set by regulation…Similar to the UK Act, the Draft Bill requires that the slavery and human trafficking statement must:
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detail the steps taken that financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of the organisation’s business or in any of its supply chains. If no steps have been taken, the statement would have to state that;
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be approved by the board of directors (or equivalent) and signed by a director (or general partner); and
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be published on the company’s website with a link to that statement appearing in a prominent place on the homepage
While the draft bill has been submitted to the Chief Executive, there has yet to be an official response, meaning there is no timetable for the legislature to discuss yet.
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