【Joint Statement】Civil society organizations release comments and suggestions on the draft of “Taiwan Supply Chain Enterprises Respect Human Rights Guidelines“, urging Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs to promptly initiate legislation for mandatory human rights and the environment due diligence law
Regarding the draft of the “Taiwan Supply Chain Enterprises Respect Human Rights Guidelines” announced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, civil society organizations including Taiwan Transnational Corporations Watch (TTNC Watch), Environmental Rights Foundation, Environmental Jurists Association, Greenpeace East Asia Taipei Office, Organization of Migrant Fishers’ Rights (OMFR), Taiwan Youth Labor Union, Taiwan Laborers Association, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and Citizen of the Earth Taiwan have today (4/15) released comments and suggestions, urging the Ministry of Economic Affairs to continue communicating with civil society to rectify the shortcomings of the current draft. Civil society organizations also emphasize that soft guidelines alone are insufficient, and mandatory legislation for human rights and environmental due diligence is actually the international trend. The Ministry of Economic Affairs should promptly initiate the legislative process.
Civil society organizations stated that while they acknowledge the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ efforts in formulating guidelines to advance the responsibility of Taiwanese companies to respect human rights and the environment, the current draft still has many shortcomings. Firstly, the negative impact scenarios are excessively limited, severely lacking environmental and climate-related content. Secondly, the explanation regarding the national complaint mechanism is overly simplistic and fails to effectively address the differences in approaches due to variations in the affected locations (domestic or overseas). Additionally, the draft lacks local case studies, and the requirements and explanations regarding stakeholder communication, victim remedies, and information disclosure are not sufficiently specific and comprehensive. The Ministry of Economic Affairs should continue engaging with society and refer to international best practices to thoroughly revise the draft and propose the most comprehensive guidelines.
Civil society organizations also point out that global international organizations, governments, and non-governmental organizations have already recognized that relying solely on soft guidelines cannot truly compel companies to implement safeguards for human rights and the environment. Mandatory legislation for human rights and environmental due diligence is necessary and urgent. The EU’s Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive is expected to be announced and implemented shortly after passing through the European Parliament’s review. In the near future, compliance with high standards of human rights and environmental due diligence will be necessary for trade with the EU. Civil society organizations urge that given the rapidly evolving international legislative trend, Taiwan has no time to delay, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs should immediately initiate the legislative process to keep up with international standards and fulfill international responsibilities for human rights and the environment.
Full comments and suggestions (written in Chinese)
【聯合聲明稿】 公民團體公布《臺灣供應鏈企業尊重人權指引》修正意見書，呼籲經濟部儘速啟動台灣企業人權與環境盡職調查立法
針對經濟部公布之《臺灣供應鏈企業尊重人權指引》草案，台灣跨國企業監察（TTNC Watch）、環境權保障基金會、環境法律人協會、綠色和平東亞分部臺北辦公室、外籍漁工人權組織（OMFR）、台灣青年勞動九五聯盟、台灣勞動者協會、台灣人權促進會、地球公民基金會等公民團體，今天（4/15）公布民間修正意見書，呼籲經濟部應持續與社會溝通，修正目前草案的不足之處，公民團體也強調，光靠軟性指引是不夠的，強制性的人權與環境盡職調查立法才是國際趨勢，經濟部應該儘速啟動立法程序。
公民團體表示，首先要肯定經濟部訂定指引，為推動台灣企業落實尊重人權與環境的責任向前跨出一步。不過，目前的草案仍有許多不足之處。首先，負面影響樣態過分局限，嚴重缺乏環境及氣候相關內容；再者，針對國家申訴機制之說明過於簡略，未能有效回應因影響發生地不同（海內或海外）而途徑不同之處；此外，草案缺乏本土案例，且有關利害關係人溝通、受害者救濟措施與資訊揭露等之要求與說明皆不夠具體與完善。經濟部應持續與社會溝通，並參考國際最佳的範本，充分修正草案，提出最完善的指引。
公民團體也指出，目前全球國際組織、政府與非政府組織，都已經充分認識到光靠軟性的指引，無法真正促使企業落實對人權和環境的保障，強制性的人權與環境盡職調查立法有其必要和急迫性，歐盟企業永續盡職調查指引法案更可望於近期通過歐洲議會審查後公布實施，未來要和歐盟進行貿易，就必須落實高標準的人權與環境盡職調查。公民團體呼籲，面對快速發展的國際立法潮流，台灣已經沒有時間再拖延，經濟部應該即刻啟動立法程序，才能跟上國際貿易新的永續全球標準，履行台灣人權與環境的國際責任。
公民團體針對《臺灣供應鏈企業尊重人權指引》草案修正意見全文
