Despite significant advances in human rights and global development, slavery remains a deeply rooted reality of the modern world with an estimated 40.3 million people living in some form of modern slavery - a figure three times that during the transatlantic slave trade. Modern slavery is a global issue and one which is becoming increasingly prevalent in UK maritime and wider logistics networks.
In October 2024, the British Ports Association released guidance on modern slavery and smuggling, which provides practical information for ports and harbours. Whilst the guidance touches on both modern slavery and smuggling, this article will only look at the risks around modern slavery.
Modern slavery is defined in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 as the offence of 'slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour' (Section 1) and 'Human trafficking' (Section 2).
Statutory guidance which accompanies the Act defines modern slavery as where 'victims are forced, threatened or deceived into situations of subjugation, degradation and control which undermines their personal identity and sense of self.'
The reality is, modern slavery has many faces and can occur in both contractual and non-contractual settings. It encompasses both forced labour and human trafficking and can involve physical abuse, psychological coercion and financial entrapment, by way of debt bondage.
Ports and harbours are affected by modern slavery in different ways and to varying degrees but all should be incentivised to act, whether to comply with legislation, prevent loss or to uphold moral standing aligned to organisational values. The guidance provides a roadmap for how to map out and formulate a response plan, broken down into four stages: plan, do, check and act.
In addition to the four stages, the guidance lays out top five recommendations:
Each of these recommendations can be identified in the four stages below.
Before taking any action, you need to plan and before you can effectively plan, you need to understand what modern slavery means to your organisation. Essential to this is carrying out risk assessments, including Port Facility Security Assessments, an Enterprise Risk Register and mapping out your supply chains. You should review your current policies and procedures, consider leadership responsibilities and carry out a gap analysis report to identify areas of weakness.
Following this review, you will then be in a position to consider what you want to change, how urgently you need to act and how you will achieve your target state. From this, you will be able to create a practical plan, with objectives, targets and key performance indicators.
There are many different types of actions that ports and harbours can be taking as suit their risk profile and performance aspirations but all should be centred around a zero-tolerance policy towards MS&S.
In taking action, you should identify what resources you need to respond to your exposures and consider what training is required. For example, your front line colleagues should know about red flags to watch out for and what action to take should they suspect modern slavery, which will be different to the red flags that procurement professionals need to be aware of. Communication is key to action and all employees should be aware of relevant policies and procedures, with them being kept under review and maintained to ensure that they remain effective.
Good governance control is essential to effective action, with a clear segregation of duties and key figures understanding their roles and responsibilities and proactively endorsing the culture of a zero-tolerance towards modern slavery and all related policies.
Under Section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, organisations with a turnover of £35 million or more providing goods and services in the UK must disclose an annual modern slavery statement. This statement must set out the steps that the organisation has taken during that financial year to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of its supply chains, including if no action has been taken. However, the guidance makes clear that it is good practice for all organisation to have a modern slavery statement, regardless of turnover.
You must ensure that you have a crisis response plan in place to respond to any modern slavery issues. You should have a contingency plan which identifies and responds to potential events, including near-misses, and is regularly tested and reviewed. All interested parties should be made aware of these arrangements and action taken to prevent and mitigate the impact and risks that may be associated with such events. Whilst your responses may be similar with modern slavery and smuggling, note that each are unique and should be treated as such. For example, good practice with regards to smuggling may potentially require special personal protective equipment, whereas good practice with regard to modern slavery, should require trauma response and training.
Carrying out audits and inspections, including reviewing schedules and checklists for cargo, animals, vessels, vehicles and people are an essential part of managing modern slavery risks. During your planning stage you should have identified what needs to be monitored and measured, including identifying criteria against which you can check your performance, both positive and negative.
The final stage is to act, both on incidents and near-misses. Where instances of modern slavery have been detected, action should be taken to correct situations and prevent recurrence. Events should be reported internally and externally with consideration given to what, how, who and when to tell, bearing in mind legally reporting responsibilities and disclosure obligations with consideration given to national laws affecting international supply chain interfaces. For example, German links may trigger the 2023 German Supply Chain Act, despite being based in the UK.
Collecting, evaluating and sharing data is essential to identify trends and preventing modern slavery with collaboration between port operators and enforcement being essential. In May 2023 the British Ports Association launched a new security alert systems in May 2023 for rapid information sharing amongst industry to help prevent and detect criminal activity, to which any port can sign up. Consideration should also be given to modern slavery disclosure expectations amongst external stakeholders.
Continual improvement is essential and organisations should be carrying out periodic Management reviews which look at modern slavery incidents and trends, recap modern slavery objectives and consider compliance and how to improve.
British Ports Association guidance is extensive and comprehensive and is intended to be scalable so that it is accessible by ports of any size and capacity.
The nature of maritime transport and complex supply chains means that there are many opportunities for modern slavery to occur. Through implementing strong policies and procedures and following British Ports Association guidance, organisations can put in place tighter and more efficient controls to tackle the issue and help prevent modern slavery within the marine sector.
Should your organisation require advice or training in relation to modern slavery and smuggling, please contact Ian Manners, head of Ashfords’ risk and regulation team, at i.manners@ashfords.co.uk.
