The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is committed to the principles of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking. The MSC is not required to make an annual slavery and human trafficking statement but does so voluntarily in order to demonstrate its zero tolerance of, and commitment to, the eradication of modern slavery and human trafficking.
As an equal opportunities employer, the MSC is committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful working environment for its staff. The MSC wants all its staff to feel confident that they can expose wrongdoing without any risk to themselves.
The MSC ensures that all its employees are safeguarded from any abuse or coercion and are legally employed in line with the legislation of the country in which they are based. The MSC does not enter into business with any organisation, which knowingly supports or is found to be involved in slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour. The MSC has a number of policies which underpin our approach to this, and which are readily accessible to all staff at the MSC.
These include:
- A whistleblowing policy which may be used for reporting confidentially any concerns about slavery and human trafficking
- An anti-fraud and corruption (including anti-bribery) policy
- A grievance policy which may be used for raising concerns about ill-treatment.
Our supply chain
Due to the nature of our business, the MSC assesses itself to have a low risk of Modern Slavery in our business and supply chains.
We are an environmental standard-setter for sustainable fishing. Fisheries and other businesses that meet our standards are certified through an independent, third-party audit and assessment process.
As a consequence, the MSC’s supply chains are limited, and we procure goods and services from a restricted range of UK and overseas suppliers.
Our largest outsourced contract is with our IT support service provider: it has also published its statement on slavery and human trafficking, which includes its mechanisms for guarding against modern slavery in its operations and supply chains.
Embedding the principles
The principles will continue to be embedded by the following activities:
- ensure that consideration of the modern slavery risks and prevention are added to the MSC's
policy review process as an employer and procurer of goods and services. - ensure the MSC’s contract terms and conditions include references to modern slavery and
human trafficking. - continue to take action to embed a zero-tolerance policy towards modern slavery.
- ensure that staff involved in buying/procurement and the recruitment and deployment of employees receive training on modern slavery and ethical employment practices.
This statement has been approved by the MSC’s Executive Committee and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 March 2021. This statement will be reviewed and updated annually.