We wanted to make you aware of a recent legal development regarding supply chain-related human trafficking that may increase your company's compliance burdens and that underscores the importance of maintaining supply chain responsibility measures.
In October 2015, the UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA) became effective, which requires all companies doing business in the UK with worldwide turnover of at least £36 million (or approximately $51 million as of the date of this alert), regardless of industry, to disclose what they are doing to ensure that slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in their supply chains, including, if applicable, the policies a company has adopted, the due diligence it has performed, the risk assessments it has carried out, and the training it has provided, among other items. This disclosure must be approved by a company's board of directors and posted on its website. According to guidance released by the UK, companies are required to post their disclosure as soon as reasonably practicable following the end of their financial year, but in any case, not later than six months following the end of their financial year. Companies with a financial year-end between October 29, 2016 and March 30, 2016 will not be required to publish a statement for that financial year; therefore, the first companies that are required to comply with the MSA will be companies with a March 31, 2016 financial year end.
Governance measures adopted and disclosure prepared to comply with the MSA should be coordinated with compliance efforts with respect to existing supply chain-related human trafficking laws and regulations, including (i) the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (TSCA) and (ii) the recently amended Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).
Click here to read the summaries of the MSA, TSCA, FAR and DFARS. If you think any of these rules may apply to your company, we encourage you to reach out to us, particularly if your company has not previously been subject to supply chain responsibility-related legal requirements, as we can advise on the adoption of appropriately tailored policies, governance procedures, and contractual provisions that leverage, to the extent possible, existing supply chain compliance systems.
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