With the need to address human rights issues such as forced labor, the government has decided to formulate corporate guidelines by this summer to establish policies and initiatives for respecting human rights.
This was revealed by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hagita at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting.
According to this, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will newly establish a study group of experts such as companies, investors, and lawyers to formulate guidelines for companies to establish policies and efforts for respecting human rights.
In the background, it was pointed out that forced labor is widely practiced in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is a global cotton producing region, and the supply network of Japanese companies' raw materials = supply chain is also scrutinized. Is currently being poured.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, there are requests from the business community to formulate guidelines, so we plan to start discussions from this month at the earliest and formulate them by this summer.
Minister Hagiuda said, "It is essential to create an environment in which companies can actively work to respect human rights under fair competitive conditions, and it is important to increase the predictability of measures taken by each country through international cooperation. We will clearly show internally and externally that the government and Japanese companies will work in accordance with international standards. "