Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Multinational Corporations and Human Rights

Non-governmental Organisation/Non-profit-initiated Norms

AccountAbility 1000

AccountAbility 1000 (AA1000) is an international standard for social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting devised by UK-based international membership organisation the Institute for Social and Ethical Accountability (ISEA). AA1000 provides a framework that organisations can use to understand and improve their ethical performance, and a means for others to judge the validity of claims to be ethical. In this way AA1000 can be seen as a ‘process’ standard which gives companies assistance in understanding how to approach social and ethical issues from a systems management point of view. In addition to measuring standards, AA1000 may be used to develop other processes such as feedback mechanisms and definitions of new goals and targets.

http://www.accountability.org.uk/aa1000/

Amnesty International Human Rights Principles for Companies

Dated 1 January 1998, this document lists the human rights principles which companies should bear in mind when developing their own code of conduct. The principles refer to international standards, conventions and protocols which apply to companies.

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engACT700011998?open&of=eng-398

The Business Principles for Countering Bribery

The Business Principles for Countering Bribery, published on 9 December 2002, are an initiative of Transparency International and Social Accountability International (both UK-based non-profit organisations) and were developed in partnership with companies, academia, trade unions and other NGOs. The Business Principles aim to provide a practical tool to which companies can look for a comprehensive reference to good practice to counter bribery. Companies are encouraged to consider using them as a starting point for developing their own anti-bribery systems or as a benchmark in themselves.

http://www.transparency.org/global_priorities/private_sector/business_principles

The Calvert Women's Principles

Launched on 22 June 2004 the Calvert Women's Principles are a comprehensive code of corporate conduct focusing on gender equality and women's empowerment created by Calvert (an ethical investment group) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). According to Calvert, the Principles constitute the first global code of conduct for corporations focused exclusively on women. They provide companies with a set of goals they can aspire to and measure their progress against and investors with a set of set of tools they can use to assess corporate performance on gender equality issues.

http://www.calvert.com/pdf/womensprinciples.pdf

The Caux Principles for Business

The Caux Round Table (CRT) describes itself as an international network of principled business leaders working to promote a moral capitalism. The CRT Principles for Business are designed to act as a standard by which business behaviour can be measured. They are a statement of aspirations for ethical and responsible corporate behaviour rather than a binding code.

http://www.cauxroundtable.org/documents/PrinciplesforBusiness.doc

Clean Clothes Campaign Code

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), headquartered in Europe, is a group of national coalitions comprising consumer organisations, trade unions, human rights organisations and others. The CCC Code is an industry-wide code for the apparel and sportswear sectors. It can be adopted by companies, industry associations or employer organisations: in so doing the entity will be expected to engage the services of an independent monitoring institution to audit its compliance with the Code.

http://www.cleanclothes.org/codes/ccccode.htm

Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies

CERES is a U.S. coalition of environmental, investor, and advocacy groups. Its principles are a ten-point code of environmental conduct which companies sign up to as part of a commitment to continuous environmental improvement. There is annual self-evaluation of progress by companies that are implementing the Principles.

http://ceres.org/coalitionandcompanies/principles.php

Ethical Trading Initiative – Base Codes

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is a UK-based coalition of companies, NGOs and trade union organisations which promotes and develops the implementation of corporate codes of practice on supply chain working conditions. Companies can join the ETI and in so doing sign up to the base codes. Members accept the principle that the implementation of codes will be assessed through monitoring and verification which includes annual reporting.

http://www.ethicaltrade.org/Z/lib/base/code_en.shtml

Fair Labor Association – Code

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is an NGO which promulgates an independent monitoring system that holds its participating companies from the apparel industry accountable for the conditions under which their products are produced. Monitoring of adherence to its Code, which is based on the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), is achieved through inspection, an annual report and a third party complaints facility.

http://www.fairlabor.org/all/code/index.html

Fair Wear – Codes

Fair Wear is an Australian NGO which campaigns against the exploitation of outworkers in the national clothing industry. Companies who sign onto and comply with the Homeworkers Code of Practice demonstrate a commitment to fair wages and conditions for outworkers. The code has two main parts: retailers sign Part One, manufacturers become accredited to Part Two, allowing them to sew the No SweatShop Label into their clothes. A union carries out inspection and monitoring of adherents’ supply chains.

http://fairwear.org.au/engine.php?SID=1000013

The Global Reporting Initiative - Guidelines

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international organisation which develops and disseminates globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines. The guidelines are for voluntary use by organisations for reporting on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of their activities, products, and services.

http://www.globalreporting.org/guidelines/2002.asp

Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility

The principles are a code of conduct which companies from all industries can endorse. The principles were created by American Reverend Leon H. Sullivan originally for companies operating in Apartheid South Africa. In the present context, companies which endorse the principles makes a commitment to work towards implementing the principles as part of their corporate responsibility and to including them in their annual reporting process.

http://globalsullivanprinciples.org/principles.htm 

Global Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance

The bench marks were created by three faith groups to assist groups working on corporate social responsibility, workers and companies. The bench marks comprise sets of social and environmental criteria and business performance indicators. They were compiled by an international steering group and can be accessed and used by all.

http://www.bench-marks.org/

International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers

On 29 May 1997, fourteen Nobel Laureates led by Dr. Oscar Arias of Costa Rica launched the International Code of Conduct. The Code requires arms suppliers to certify that all recipients meet certain democracy and human rights standards.

http://www.earthaction.org/en/archive/98-10-wt/arias.html

International Code of Ethics for Canadian Businesses

Launched in September 1997 by 12 Canadian companies as a template for Canadian businesses to follow when conducting business at home and abroad, the code is a statement of values/principles designed to facilitate and assist individual firms when developing their policies and practices. The code contains no provisions relating to implementation or independent monitoring. Since 1997, many Canadian businesses have adopted the code.

http://www.cdp-hrc.uottawa.ca/globalization/busethics/codeint.html

The MacBride Principles

The MacBride Principles were launched by the Irish National Caucus (United States) in November 1984. They consist of nine fair employment principles which together comprise a corporate code of conduct for U.S. Companies doing business in Northern Ireland to encourage non-discriminatory working practices.

http://www.pittsburghirish.org/AOHDiv32/MacBridePrinc.htm

SA 8000

Social Accountability International (SAI) is a U.S.-based NGO. It developed SA8000 in 1996 as an international workplace standard with inbuilt verification system. SA8000 is based on international employment and workplace norms taken from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on Rights of the Child. Companies apply to be certificated for compliance with SA8000 standards, a process which entails independent audit.

http://www.sa-intl.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageld=473&stopRedirect=1

The Stakeholder Alliance Sunshine Standards for Corporate Reporting to Stakeholders

The Stakeholder Alliance is an initiative of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy in the U.S. It is a grassroots association of organisations and individuals that works towards greater corporate social accountability. Companies may sign up to the standards, which represent a minimum level of the disclosure demanded by the various stakeholder participants.

http://www.stakeholderalliance.org/sunstds.html

Sweatshop Watch Code of Conduct for University Trademark Licensees

The code was created in the U.S. in 1998 and is intended to prevent labour abuses of workers making university apparel and other merchandise.

www.sweatshopwatch.org/

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) is a U.S.-based NGO created by college and university administrations, students and labour rights experts to assist in the enforcement of manufacturing codes of conduct adopted by colleges and universities. Colleges and universities which affiliate with WRC must provide a list, updated regularly, of names and locations of all factories involved in the production of their logo goods. The WRC then investigates factory conditions.

http://www.workersrights.org/coc.asp

Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production principles

The American Apparel and Footwear Association developed the Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP) Principles as basic standards that address labour practices, factory conditions, and environmental and customs compliance. Companies that join the WRAP Certification Program are subject to unannounced compliance inspections at all participating plants. As of November 2003, WRAP has over 700 international manufacturers adherents.

http://www.wrapapparel.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=3