Outcomes and next steps

The report lists recommendations, both short-term and long term.

In the short-term, there are a number of immediate steps supermarkets should take:

• Amend supply chain policies to apply workers’ rights requirements to all suppliers rather than only direct suppliers.
• Publish names and addresses of all supplier farms, including those beyond direct suppliers.
• Extend audits (however, see report on the caveat of broader ineffectiveness of audits) to suppliers throughout the supply chain for agricultural produce originating in these regions of Spain, including off-site worker interviews, ensuring that no management is present.
• Publicly report on the results of all audits (again, see report on the caveat of broader ineffectiveness of audits) conducted in the regions, including linking back to farm level.
• Publicly commit to eliminating any commercial or trading practices that could place pressure to cut costs on suppliers or transfer risks to them. For example, contracts should be long-term, predictable and transparent and pricing should be set at an appropriate level for sustainable production costs.
• Publicly commit to factor living wage into price negotiations, as well as contract terms, and set a time-bound timeline towards this.

However, as the report highlights in detail such steps will not be sufficient alone to address the endemic issues in the region.