… [T]he EU took the floor to express surprise with the change in formulation from ‘all business activities’ in the earlier draft of the treaty text to ‘business activities of transnational character’ in the draft currently under consideration…

Another issue remained unclear: which human rights and environmental standards should be respected by business under this treaty…

…Even as delegates from Panama, Mexico, South Africa and Cameroon tried to strengthen the text, representatives from Brazil, US and China attempted to curtail the rights of victims. Russia submitted that ecological rights do not have an internationally-recognized definition and opposed any reference to gender.

Constructive proposals included a clarification that non-judicial grievance mechanisms should not infringe on the right to access judicial mechanisms…

NGOs strongly defended the importance of this article for those who have suffered from corporate harm, and asked delegates to strengthen provisions on access to information and legal aid…

The International Organization of Employers … attacked the very essence of this article [taking] issue with the fact that it is focused on the rights of claimants without addressing, for example, the right to confidentiality of other parties…

Palestine’s suggestion that states should take adequate and effective measures to protect the right to peaceful protest, …was widely welcomed by NGOs and other member states like South Africa and Panama.

Civil society organizations supported the use of strong language on human rights defenders and proposed changing the title of the article to “Protection of victims and human rights defenders”.

State reactions were both constructive and critical of article 6, which outlines the state duty to regulate due diligence obligations for companies…

States like Cuba, Egypt, Pakistan, and Iran sought to limit the scope of the article by removing references to ‘all business’…

Regarding the state obligation to require companies to undertake due diligence, Cuba expressed its reservation to the entire article 6(3)…

Based on France’s pioneering 2017 duty of vigilance law, the French delegate suggested…adding a threshold for size or turnover; better defining the content of due diligence obligations; and clarifying jurisdictional competences and accountability mechanisms.

Germany also noted its recent adoption of a supply chain law, arguing that mandatory due diligence and enforcement are vital to creating a level-playing field…

The EU intervened with questions on whether a company would be responsible for the violations of any partner and what ‘enhance human rights due diligence’ entails…

Towards the end of the session, the Chair reminded delegates that the treaty text has evolved thanks to earlier consultations and warned against taking steps backwards.