The Dutch Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation has announced that the government will prepare the introduction of a Dutch law for responsible and sustainable business conduct. With this legislation, the Netherlands is taking an impotant step to protect human rights and the environment in global value chains, such as child labour.

This decision follows this week’s news that the European Commission postponed the proposal for EU legislation indefinitely. The Minister said that he is “very disappointed” that the European Commission has “again” postponed the proposal and that it is unclear when it will be published.

Important breakthrough

The minister wants to use Dutch legislation to increase the pressure on the European Commission, so that no time is lost. The minister also stated that it is “no longer justifiable” to postpone the implementation of the Dutch Child Labour Due Diligence Law, which was already approved in 2019.