Last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) convened several hundred delegates in Paris to discuss its draft guidelines for responsible business conduct in apparel and footwear supply chains. The 140 pages of draft guidance represent an important turning point in the debate about workers in global supply chains because they include a call for companies to gain full visibility into their sub-tier suppliers...

...As the OECD draft guidelines rightly identify – and our own research confirms  – sub-tier suppliers present the greatest risk for human rights violations and should be the subject of urgent action by the institutions – companies, governments, unions, financial institutions, civil society – that seek to ensure that everyone enjoys the benefits of a globalized economy.

The challenge of the OECD’s draft guidance is that it assumes that individual companies can and will make visible their sub-tier suppliers. This is a faulty premise because of the tension between visibility and responsibility...