Ï㽶Ðã

The United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 was passed in March of 2015. As of October 2015, all commercial organizations carrying on a business or part of a business in the United Kingdom (no matter where that organization was incorporated or formed) with annual turnover of £36 million pounds (approximately $56 million) and over, must provide a Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement for each financial year according to section 54 of the Act.

In late July 2015, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3226, the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015. The bill, if passed, would require companies to file annual reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing their efforts to identify and address specific human rights risks in their supply chains. The proposed federal legislation would apply to companies with annual worldwide gross receipts exceeding one hundred million dollars.

Government officials in India gave approval in May of 2015 to a bill proposed in 2012 amending the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986. The 1986 Act prohibited the employment of children (14 years or younger) in 18 occupations and 65 processes deemed hazardous. It also regulated the working conditions of children in other occupations. The amendment would prohibit the employment of children under the age of 14 from any occupation except in family enterprises after school and during vacation or as an artist in an audio-visual entertainment industry provided that the education of the child is not affected.

Beginning January 1, 2012, California law required that large companies make public disclosures on the efforts to ensure that goods manufactured and sold were not produced by workers who were enslaved, coerced, or otherwise forced into labor. The law (California Civil Code Section 1714.43 - California Transparency in Supply Chains Act) is meant to promote greater accountability on firms to monitor their supply chains (whether domestic or international) for human trafficking.

A 2015 Associated Press investigation tracked seafood in stores and restaurants in the United States that was caught and processed using forced labor in Thailand has helped lawmakers to close a loophole in the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930.

In January 2016, the UK government ratified the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. The UK joins Niger and Norway as early adopters of the new rules.

India's minister for women and children, Maneka Gandhi, has drafted a comprehensive bill on human trafficking – the first of its kind in India - providing protection and assistance to human trafficking victims.

The FAR Council and the Department of Labor issued final rules and guidance for the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order to require prospective federal contractors to disclose labor law violations and give agencies guidance on how to consider labor violations when awarding federal contracts.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned 19 antibacterial chemicals from use in consumer soaps, giving manufacturers one year to either remove the substances from their products or stop selling the products entirely.

Three European Union (EU) institutions agreed to a deal on November 22 for new rules on conflict minerals that are expected to be ratified in early 2017.

The Environmental Protection Agency has published final rules which revise the requirements for importing and exporting hazardous waste to and from the United States.

Thailand has made new changes to its Labor Protection ACT B.E. 2541, which include increased penalties for businesses that fail to comply with labor laws, specifically laws regarding the treatment of minors.