US and Japan launch forced labor task force to promote human rights

The governments of the U.S. and Japan have announced the formation creation of a task force to safeguard human rights in supply chains.

A Memorandum of Cooperation to establish the Task Force on the Promotion of Human Rights and International Labor Standards in Supply Chains was signed on Friday by Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative, and Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan. The U.S.-Japan Partnership on Trade gave the task group its power to be created.

Tai said that the creation of this Task Force is another illustration of how trade can be a force for good throughout the world. To combat labor exploitation in global supply chains, new tools that combine the knowledge of various government organizations in the United States and Japan are being developed.

Tai added that in the fight to advance workers’ rights and fuel the global competitiveness of trade, the Japanese government “has constantly been a trustworthy partner.”

In order to increase public awareness of these problems in global supply chains, the U.S. government actively tracks products that are allegedly made using forced labor or child labor in violation of international standards, as well as the nations that supply those products. As of September 28, 2022, the list, which is kept by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs of the Labor Department, had 158 products from 77 different nations.