As part of ongoing investigative and oversight work by Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), the UK-based charitable NGO continues to issue its Questionnaire 1.0 covering reporting, recording and acting upon incidents of alleged and actual abuse within certified fisheries and aquaculture farms.
The Questionnaire is primarily issued on a case-by-case basis for those entities who are voluntarily engaging with HRAS as part of the ongoing certifications review project.
Questions
Comprised of six core and several associated sub-questions, these are internally reviewed by the recipient, answered to the best of their knowledge providing necessary evidence, and then submitted to HRAS.
The questions are:
1. How many cases of reported child labour, forced or compulsory labour have been reported to your organisation under your certification since inception, how reported and by whom?
2. How many cases of human rights abuse have been reported to your organisation under your certification since inception, how reported and by whom?
3. What is the structure, methodology and oversight mechanism(s) for your organisation’s internal investigation, findings and remediation processes involving reported cases for i) human rights abuses, ii) labour rights abuses and specifically, iii) child labour or iv) forced or compulsory labour abuses?
4. How many entities have you suspended for i) human rights abuses, ii) labour rights abuses and specifically, iii) child labour or iv) forced or compulsory labour abuses since inception?
4.1 What are the details of the suspension, for how long was the suspension upheld, were the perpetrators identified and are these details publicly available?
4.2 Please confirm public access and links.
5. How many suspended entities have been re-certified, under what circumstances were they allowed to reapply and on what basis were they re-assessed for certification?
6. How many entities have you banned for i) human rights abuses, ii) labour rights abuses and specifically, iii) child labour or iv) forced or compulsory labour abuses since inception?
6.1 What were the details of the ban, were the perpetrators identified and are these details publicly available?
6.2 Please confirm public access and links.
Responses and Actions
The response should evidence conformity (minor, major, critical), corrective actions and the current status of each entity certified under the current schemes.
Each recipient entity’s answers will be used by HRAS to measure the conduct of the certification bodies who are actively seeking to improve their procedures, position and associated activities related to respecting and remediating abuses identified in their supply chain.
Those entities who have yet to engage with HRAS or respond to all reasonable outreach will be fairly highlighted as having avoided transparent reporting under their respective brands.
All entities have the right of public reply at every stage of the engagement, which will be published on the HRAS website.
Access to HRAS Page
To access the HRAS certifications, standards and ratings review project, users must register via the HRAS website page.
Contact: If you have any comments or questions, please write to us at csrreview@humanrightsatsea.org
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