G7 Ministerial Meeting: Fund for fair production starts with seven million euros

G7 employment and development ministers concluded their Berlin conference (12/13 October), by adopting concrete steps to make global supply chains more sustainable. The creation of a "Vision Zero Fund" - a global fund for improving occupational safety and health and for preventing serious workplace accidents in poorer production countries - was at the heart of the G7 "Action for Fair Production" declaration. During their two-day conference, ministers paved the way for the Fund to start operating next year (2016). The German Government, the United States and the EU Commission announced that for 2016 they will be providing seed-financing financing totalling seven million euros. Other countries (Italy, France) will be supporting the Fund by making in-kind contributions in money's worth in the form of expert teams and know-how transfers. In addition, initial talks with the private sector and the Asian Development Bank were held to discuss their participation in the Fund. During the closing press conference Andrea Nahles, the Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, noted: "We are expecting additional contributions over the next few weeks". Guy Ryder, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization, which is tasked with implementing the Fund, applauded the results: "The Vision Zero Fund will help prevent and reduce the unacceptable number of workplace-related deaths, injuries and diseases. Gaining access to global supply chains can be an important part of strategies for poverty reduction. The Fund will help to make this route safer."
The G7 also agreed on concrete steps for strengthening non-judicial complaint and arbitration procedures for cases in which the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are violated. The G7 ministers decided to task the OECD with conducting peer reviews of their countries' National Contact Points, the bodies responsible for such procedures, preferably by 2018. The majority of G7 countries already announced specific dates for their reviews at the Ministerial Meeting. The goal of the peer reviews is to further optimise the contact points of the G7 countries and to lead by example so as to promote their spread around the world.
The ministers also stressed their willingness to take steps to help companies, and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, develop a shared understanding of due diligence and responsible supply chain management. To this end, the G7 will actively support the relevant OECD activities and the 2016 International Labour Conference to ensure their success.