BSI launches supply chain slavery index

The UK is exposed to an increased risk of modern day slaves entering the country from two thirds of the countries of the world, according to new research from the British Standards Institute.

The BSI Human Trafficking and Supply Chain Slavery Index identifies Russia, Slovakia, India and Pakistan as ‘severe risk’ source countries of ‘modern day slaves’ to the UK.

Of the G7 nations, Italy is identified as a ‘high risk’ nation – partly due to the conflict in Syria. Greece and Turkey are additionally categorised as ‘high risk’ countries.

The Modern Slavery Act came into force in the UK in 2015 highlighting the risk to business of finding examples of it in global supply chains.

The Institute has created the Trafficking & Supply Chain Slavery Patterns Index which cross-references source countries of displaced people, and their likelihood of being exploited in destination countries.

Index developer Michiko Shima said: “It looks at the intersection and relationship between source countries of displaced people, and the likelihood of being exploited upon arrival in destination countries. Other indexes are one dimensional – looking only at source or destination countries.”

The BSI believes that by pairing of source/destination countries and their relative risk it can provide a broad understanding of the breadth of threats to global supply chains. These include human rights abuses, security threats and business continuity risks.

Chris McCann, principal consultant at BSI Supply Chain Services and Solutions, said: “The Index, allied with BSI’s solutions-based services, empowers organisation to focus their supply chain risk management on identifying and assessing ‘at-risk’ suppliers and to manage the risks proactively. In doing so, progressive organisation will lessen their exposure to operational disruption, reputational damage, financial – including share price volatility – and potential legal consequences.”