"Human rights not guaranteed by Dutch procurement practices", 29 Jun 2015

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) explicitly mentions procurement policies as a tool for governments to encourage the protection of human rights in international supply chains. The Netherlands has committed to implement the UNGPs; however, it still does not apply social criteria in public tenders...Supply chain risks overseas are rarely considered in the purchasing process. This has been demonstrated by SOMO who found that only 3 of the 25 tenders for high risk products (eg phones, clothing, coffee and natural stone) referred to these social criteria...Following several parliamentary questions, the current government promised to engage with municipalities, provinces and water boards to promote socially responsible purchasing. According to the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, all companies that supply the government would have to comply with the UNGPs...