KEY RECOMMENDATIONS – PILLAR III The following is a list of key recommendations for the U.S. government to consider in shaping its commitments in the U.S. National Action Plan (NAP) on Responsible Business Conduct. These recommendations directly draw from the protection and enforcement gaps identified by ICAR in the “Pillar III” section of its “Shadow” National Baseline Assessment (NBA) for the United States. These recommendations are categorized as either government-wide or as falling under the purview of specific executive departments, independent agencies, government corporations, or Congress. ICAR has organized the recommendations this way to emphasize that the commitments outlined in the U.S. NAP should be delegated, as much as possible, to specific government entities. This will ensure greater clarity, coherence, and accountability. Key recommendations also accompanied the “Pillar I” section of the NBA, published in March 2015. A complete “Shadow” NBA, including both the Pillar I and Pillar III sections and their respective recommendations, will be published in late July 2015.
GOVERNMENT-WIDE RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Articulate and communicate a policy that businesses that do not uphold American standards for respect for human rights will be held to account. 2. Articulate and communicate a policy that executive branch agencies will rigorously investigate and prosecute allegations of corporate crimes linked to human rights abuse. 3. Address the fact that many U.S. trade and development agencies do not have non-judicial grievance mechanisms through which victims can seek remedy for business-related human rights harm. 4. Uniformly require that all business-based grievance mechanisms adhere to the UNGPs and the OECD Guidelines. 5. Develop and publish a centralized strategy for funding and support to multi-stakeholder initiatives in order to ensure that they set, monitor, and assess industry-specific standards and metrics around human rights. 6. Pressure American companies to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, establish a partnership with U.S. companies to improve labor conditions in Bangladesh, support key labor organizations to improve labor conditions in Bangladesh, and inspect actual conditions in Bangladesh or invest resources toward ensuring working safety and improving training. 7. Develop and publicly release listings of factories under investigation for human rights abuses or lists of regions where particular goods may be sourced, produced, or transported with high risks of human rights violations. 8. Support financial or other instruments, such as an international fund, bond, or insurance, to ensure that remedy can be delivered where human rights abuses occur. For instance, OPIC and
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