USA: US companies cannot be held liable under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act simply for buying products made with forced labour, rules DC Circuit Court
"D.C. Circuit Defines "Venture" Under the TVPRA," 12 March 2024
...The D.C. Circuit issued its... opinion in Doe v. Apple, a suit against U.S. tech companies seeking to hold them liable under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) for forced labor and human trafficking used to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). ...
The court... held that plaintiffs failed to state a claim for relief because purchasing cobalt through the global supply chain is not “participation in a venture,” which the TVPRA requires for liability. ...
The D.C. Circuit did not answer the question whether the TVPRA’s civil cause of action applies extraterritorially. ...
The plaintiffs in Doe are children, and the family members of children, who were injured or killed mining cobalt in the DRC. ...
Plaintiffs sued five U.S. tech companies—Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell, and Tesla—that purchase cobalt through supply chains to power their products, alleging that they benefitted from participation in a venture that they knew or should have known engaged in forced labor and human trafficking...
The court of appeals addressed only the first two grounds, holding that the plaintiffs had standing but had not adequately alleged participation in a venture. ...
“[P]urchasing a commodity, without more, is not ‘participation in a venture’ with the seller,” the court concluded. ...The court concluded that “participation in a venture” means: “taking part or sharing in an enterprise or undertaking that involves danger, uncertainty, or risk, and potential gain.”
The D.C. Circuit’s decision in Doe v. Apple makes clear that U.S. companies cannot be held liable under the TVPRA simply for buying products made with forced labor. More is required for “participation in a venture.” But if that requirement is satisfied, victims of forced labor abroad should be able to sue U.S. companies regardless of how the extraterritoriality question is resolved.