"UK Government Body Accepts OECD Complaint against Sugar “Sustainability” Body", 25 Sep 2019

The UK National Contact Point for the OECD, a government body that monitors the operations of British businesses overseas, has ruled admissible a landmark complaint against the sugar industry’s sustainability certification body, Bonsucro. The decision establishes that London-based Bonsucro is bound by OECD standards on responsible business conduct and does not operate in a human rights vacuum. This has ramifications for other industry sustainability associations, which have grown in importance in response to consumer demand for ethically sourced products.

The complaint was filed in March on behalf of more than 700 displaced Cambodian families by the U.S. organization Inclusive Development International and the Cambodian organizations Equitable Cambodia and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).  It alleged that the sugar association violated the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by failing to hold its member company, Mitr Phol, accountable after the Thai sugar giant grabbed the families’ land and left them homeless and destitute...

The UK National Contact Point will now offer the parties an opportunity to mediate the issues, or if mediation fails, it will examine further the claim that Bonsucro’s actions are inconsistent with the OECD Guidelines.