Guidelines on Respecting Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains - Digest Version

What Are Efforts to Respect Human Rights?

• In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which accelerated international efforts to demand that business enterprises respect human rights.
• The Japanese government also formulated its National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (2020–2025) in 2020 based on the UN Guiding Principles.
• The results from the Questionnaire Survey on the Status of Efforts on Human Rights in the Supply Chains of Japanese Companies published in November 2021 also indicated strong demand for the Japanese government to establish guidelines.
• Domestic laws are currently being introduced mainly in Europe to oblige business enterprises to engage in efforts to respect human rights.
• The Japanese government formulated the guidelines (1) based on international standards including the UN Guiding Principles, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the ILO MNE Declaration, and other international standards, (2) in a concrete and easy-to-understand manner with specific examples.