Business In Society Archives

At High-Level Conference, Business Engages With G20 on Labor Issues

Published on May 25, 2011

G20 France 2011As part of their ongoing engagement in the preparatory meetings leading up to this November’s G20 Summit in Cannes, two USCIB affiliates, the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) joined forces with the French business group MEDEF to participate in a high-level conference in Paris on May 23 on social policy issues.

The ministerial-level conference was opened by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who presented the French priorities and expectations for the G20 in this area.  French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde also spoke.  Other key participants included G20 labor ministers, the heads of the ILO, WTO and OECD along with top representatives of the IMF, World Bank and other agencies, and business and labor representatives.

The business delegation at the conference was jointly organized by IOE and BIAC.  It included IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja of Argentina, who addressed the issue of fundamental principles and rights at work, BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter (Deloitte), who spoke on employment recovery, MEDEF President Laurence Parisot, who spoke on policy coherence, and Alexander Gunkel, deputy director general of the German employers’ confederation BDA, who discussed social protection.

Participants at the conference recognized that coordination between different social actors and international institutions is essential in responding to the global jobs crisis, and they recognized the important link between economic growth, employment policies and social protection.  In his remarks concluding the conference, French Minister of Labor Xavier Bertrand acknowledged the role of entrepreneurs in creating jobs, and emphasized France’s focus on youth employment, calling for ambitious employment policies in the G20 nations.

The next meeting in the G20 process will take place on June 10, during the ILO’s International Labor Conference, when there will be consultations in Geneva with the social partners from the G20 countries.

Staff contact: Ronnie Goldberg

Related: G20 Advisory Group Launched for CEO Input to Heads of State (May 25, 2011)

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

USCIB Urges Changes to Proposed Korean Chemicals Regulation

Published on May 11, 2011

korea_flagThe Korean environment ministry recently proposed far-reaching regulations, modeled largely on European Union law, on the use of chemicals.  In response, USCIB engaged its members and submitted comments, supporting other submissions by business and industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council.

The regulations would amend Korea’s toxic chemicals control act and introduce many elements similar to those found in the EU’s REACH law on chemicals, including priority chemicals, chemicals for authorization, chemicals for restriction, pre-registration of priority chemicals and communication of information throughout the supply chain.

USCIB urged that manufactured products or articles be excluded from all the regulation’s provisions, and that exclusions for such articles not require a confirmation that they are exempt.  “A requirement that manufacturers or importers submit an application for confirmation of an exemption would be inefficient and wasteful,” the USCIB letter stated.

Under a World Trade Organization agreement on technical barriers to trade, Korea must notify the organization when it prepares or adopts a new technical regulation or standard, and other WTO member nations may comment on such measures.

Staff contact: Helen Medina

USCIB Letter to Korean Environment Minister

More on USCIB’s Product Policy Working Group

Poorest Countries Need a Level Playing Field, Business Tells UN Conference

Published on May 11, 2011

Attracting private investment that supports economic growth in the world’s least developed countries relies heavily on creating conducive environments, business representatives told heads of state, ministers, and business and civil society leaders participating in the Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries, held May 9-13 in Istanbul.

The conference pinpointed actions and opportunities to help the 48 countries at the base of the global pyramid achieve more stable, prosperous and sustainable economies and communities. With over 500 business delegates, it provided an unprecedented opportunity to elevate the role of private-sector investment in the poorest nations and to mobilize business engagement toward development objectives.

Among the business delegates were Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, and Louise Kantrow, the International Chamber of Commerce’s permanent representative to the United Nations.

Read more on ICC’s website.

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

China Embraces Self-Regulation of Marketing

Published on April 14, 2011
USCIB’s Justine Badimon and Chris Martin (second and fourth from left) and Microsoft’s Brent Sanders, Marketing Committee Chair (fifth from left) with members of the China Advertising Association at a 2010 meeting to promote self-regulation.
USCIB’s Justine Badimon and Chris Martin (second and fourth from left) and Microsoft’s Brent Sanders, Marketing Committee Chair (fifth from left) with members of the China Advertising Association at a 2010 meeting to promote self-regulation.

For many years, while the state in China is the key purveyor of law and regulation, the Chinese private sector often works on its own to enforce norms and expectations of government. So it is quite interesting to note that China has embraced self-regulation in the marketing and advertising sector.

In April, as part of the first Global Advertising Week to be held in Beijing in the event’s 58-year history, the China Association of National Advertisers, the China Advertising Association and the China Advertising Association of Commerce jointly adopted the first set of ethical standards for the entire marketing industry in China.

The China Responsible Marketing Code was developed by the three ad industry associations in close consultation with the World Federation of Advertisers, and multinational and Chinese companies. The Code is built on the global advertising code from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), USCIB’s affiliate. The ICC code serves as baseline model for other countries, requiring that all marketing and advertising communications be legal, decent, honest and truthful. Brands must apply established principles of fair competition and recognize the special care required in marketing to children and young people. The Chinese Code also includes provisions for medical, health product, food, alcohol and cosmetics advertising.

“U.S. business strongly supports Chinese efforts to develop an advertising self-regulatory system,” said Brent Sanders, chair of USCIB’s Marketing & Advertising Committee and associate general counsel at Microsoft. “Building its code on global industry best practices set by ICC is a significant development in bringing the Chinese advertising market into greater coordination with the rest of the world. Furthermore, self-regulation enhances trust between businesses and customers, a vital concern for industry as Chinese consumer demand continues to grow.”

China is forecast to surpass Germany next year as the world’s third-largest advertising market.

USCIB actively contributes to promoting advertising and marketing self-regulation around the world. Currently, USCIB’s Marketing & Advertising Committee is in the final stages of helping to update the ICC’s most recent marketing code. Key new provisions include transparency and control principles around online behavioral advertising for the first time at the global level. Once approved, the ICC’s global standards can then be taken up by regional and national self-regulatory frameworks, as in the case of China and elsewhere.

“The new Chinese Code is not only an opportunity for industry to demonstrate its commitment to ethical marketing practice, it will assist industry to engage the Chinese government as it updates and revises its current advertising laws, a process that has been ongoing,” said Mr. Sanders. “All self-regulatory frameworks build on core laws and regulation.”

Stephan Loerke, WFA Managing Director, adds “I congratulate the Chinese marketing industry on this important step. In a successful consumer-led economy, trust in brand communications is critical. This code is a significant first step towards establishing effective advertising standards in China.”

Self-regulation in marketing and advertising, whether in China or elsewhere in the world, is less about government versus industry than about finding ways to ensure principled commerce. Building trust between consumers and business is clearly on China’s agenda, and that is a good thing.

Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

ILO to Send High-Level Mission to Venezuela to Investigate Attacks on Private Enterprise

Published on March 30, 2011

During its March 23 meeting, the International Labor Organization’s Governing Body unanimously decided to create a high-level tripartite mission to examine the complaints of attacks against the Venezuelan employers’ federation FEDECAMARAS, its leaders and the private sector in general. Since 2003, the ILO has been examining a case, presented by USCIB affiliate the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and FEDECAMARAS, concerning the continuing violations of the Venezuelan business community’s fundamental rights. The mission will take place this summer and will report its findings to the ILO Governing Body at its November 2011 session.

The tripartite mission will include personalities from the business community, trade unions and the ILO. Topics that will be reviewed include bullying and harassment of FEDECAMARAS and its leaders, the creation and promotion of similar employers’ organizations by the government, and permanent attacks on the independent media to prevent employers’ exercising freedom of expression.

The IOE’s secretary general, Antonio Peñalosa commented: “This will be the first such ILO mission to Venezuela and will serve to examine in situ and in detail all the IOE complaints against the government of Venezuela in recent years.” Mr. Peñalosa added that the IOE is pleased that the government had accepted the mission and opened the door to dialogue to resolve the multiple business complaints that accumulated at the ILO, to which the Venezuelan authorities had until now refused to respond.

Click here to read more on IOE’s website.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

Business Seeks to Take UN Green Growth Talks to the Next Level

Published on March 4, 2011
Business supports international cooperation towards greening economies and jobs.
Business supports international cooperation towards greening economies and jobs.

Under the auspices of USCIB’s affiliate the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), business representatives were front and center at UN preparatory talks last month in advance of next year’s landmark “Rio+20” environmental summit.

Martina Bianchini, director of EU government affairs and public policy for the Dow Chemical Company, and chair of ICC’s Green Economy Task Force, led the world business organization’s delegation to the 2011 UN Environment Program (UNEP) ministerial and governing council meetings.

The meetings, held February 17-24 in Nairobi, brought together environment ministers from over 80 countries to consider critical next steps in preparing the environmental input to the Rio+20 Conference in 2012.  Issues under discussion included new measures on chemicals, e-waste and heavy metals, and options to strengthen international environmental government institutions.

Speaking at a forum attended by UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and U.S. Environmental Protection Authority Administrator Lisa Jackson, Ms Bianchini said: “Business supports international cooperation towards greening economies and jobs: in our view, to reach its full potential, the green economy concept must become global, seeking to green all elements of the economy.  The objective is to foster innovation, rather than mandate it.”

The ICC Green Economy Task Force plans to review and provide comments on the UNEP Green Economy Report, which was released at the Nairobi meetings.  Attending the UNEP meetings, Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for energy and environmental affairs, highlighted the report’s importance for considering how businesses across all sectors will contribute to progress towards environmental innovation, job creation and economic growth.  “The right enabling frameworks will amplify the opportunities for greener technologies and investments needed to take sustainable development to the next level,” she said.

Green economy, green growth policy and market options are being discussed in the G20, the OECD and a variety of other intergovernmental forums.  The “greening” of economies and jobs is seen as a response to a variety of economic, food, energy and environmental crises, and is an organizing theme of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development to take place in Rio in 2012.

The ICC Green Economy Task Force was launched in October 2010 to provide international and multi-disciplinary business input via BASD2012 to Rio+20 preparations, and to engage with UNEP and other intergovernmental forums.  ICC will also co-host the UNEP global business dialogue in April to provide more in depth comments on the Green Economy Report, and showcase business’ major contributions in delivering jobs, investments and solutions required for the transition to a green economy.

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

More on USCIB’s Environment Committee

ICC website

ICC Secretary General Joins UN Global Compact Board

Published on March 1, 2011

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Jean-Guy Carrier, secretary general of USCIB’s affiliate the International Chamber of Commerce to the board of the UN Global Compact, an initiative encouraging companies to align their operations with 10 principles including human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Mr. Carrier will contribute a world business perspective on the Compact’s work.

The Global Compact represents more than 8,700 corporate participants and other stakeholders from at least 130 countries and is the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. It is the UN’s highest-ranking advisory body involving business and civil society, which also provides participants with resources for advancing sustainable business models and markets. The 23 board members who provide strategic and policy advice for the Global Compact also oversee implementation of the initiative’s integrity measures.

Click here to read more on ICC’s website.

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

BIAC Hosts International Green Economy Dialogue Conference

Published on January 10, 2011
BIAC Secretary General Tadahiro Asami (second from right) and USCIB’s Norine Kennedy (far right) at the Paris Green Economies Dialogue.
BIAC Secretary General Tadahiro Asami (second from right) and USCIB’s Norine Kennedy (far right) at the Paris Green Economies Dialogue.

On November 14, BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, part of USCIB’s global network, welcomed nearly 100 experts from business, governments, OECD, UNEP and key academics to an International Business Green Economies Dialogue conference at the OECD headquarters.

The Paris conference was organized as the second part of a business-led series of discussions in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, in the run-up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit this June. The first conference took place in Washington in October, and two further conferences will be organized during the first half of 2012, one in Japan and one in Brazil, with the active participation of BIAC.

OECD Environment Ministerial to Contribute to Rio+20 Conference

On March 29-30, 2012 OECD environment ministers will discuss the outcome of the OECD Green Growth Strategy by supporting national and international efforts to achieve green growth. Environment ministers will be looking at what green growth means for environmental policy making.

A key part of the meeting will discuss how the Green Growth Strategy can be used by countries with different resource endowments, environmental pressures and states of development. As the OECD Environment Ministerial will take place ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June, the OECD Ministerial will present an excellent opportunity for ministers to make a positive contribution to Rio+20.

The new OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 will be an important input to the ministerial meeting, to which BIAC has actively contributed. BIAC participated in the Global Forum on the Environmental Outlook and submitted comments on four areas identified including climate change, biodiversity, water and the health impacts of pollution, highlighting key business considerations and the proactive contribution that business can make to address these challenges.

BIAC will play an active role at the March 2012 Environment Ministerial and provide direct business input to the discussions.

The Green Economy Dialogue project launched by USCIB, the United States Council Foundation (USCF) and BIAC with support from a range of sponsors and partners, aims to promote a productive approach to greener growth, intending to increase dialogue with governments in the run-up to Rio+20 and to share business views. In addition, the project involves commissioning a number of peer-reviewed, academic papers on various aspects of green growth and green economy to inform the debate leading up to Rio+20 and going forward after the event.

The Paris conference focused on green growth carried out by the OECD including specific sessions on green growth for development and job creation, policy instruments, energy and resource efficiency. Sessions included presentations of key academics, followed by reactions from experts from business, national governments and international organizations. It was highlighted that green growth policies should help maximize growth across the economy, with necessary investments to progress it further.

Many governments highlighted the importance of flexible bottom-up approaches and partnerships as a way forward.

Staff Contact: Norine Kennedy

More on USCIB’s Environment Committee

Implementation of the Updated OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

Published on January 9, 2011

4223_image002With the 2011 update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, an important instrument for corporate responsibility has been strengthened with input from the business community via BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, part of USCIB’s global network.

The Guidelines are the most comprehensive non-binding code of responsible business conduct, and cover the areas of disclosure, human rights, employment and industrial relations, environment, bribery, consumer interest, science and technology, competition and taxation. The success of the update will depend on shifting the Guidelines process away from an almost exclusive focus on its complaint mechanism to a more solution-oriented approach modeled on multi-stakeholder initiatives.

The Confederation of German Employers and the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, both BIAC members, developed a brochure in order to familiarize enterprises with the Guidelines’ recommendations and the National Contact Point procedure.

The brochure addresses major issues, including due diligence and avoiding adverse impacts, in Q&A format and can be downloaded from the BIAC website at www.biac.org/mne_guidelines.htm.

The German and Dutch federations also co-organized and hosted a Conference on Responsible Business Conduct in a Global Context in The Hague on December 12, 2011. The conference focused on two significant developments in the field of corporate responsibility, namely the OECD MNE Guidelines and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The success of the Guidelines will also depend on their ability to contribute to a global level playing field for business. BIAC and USCIB will continue to urge OECD to undertake determined efforts to encourage emerging markets to adhere to the Guidelines.

Staff Contact: Adam Greene

State Department Flyer: OECD MNE Guidelines and U.S. National Contact Point

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

Global Challenges Face Consumer Products Manufacturers

Published on December 15, 2010

Helen Medina, USCIB’s director of life sciences and product policy, participated in the Consumer Specialty Products Association 7th Annual International Affairs Conference — Global Challenges, Trends and Outlook, December 4 and 5 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The CSPA program covered three areas: a downstream user’s perspective on compliance with the European Union’s REACH program to regulate use of chemicals; new regional product stewardship and trade developments impacting market access in Latin America; and developments at the global level.

The later topic area covered multilateral discussions of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, environmental and product sustainability, and consumer product safety.  It included an in-depth panel discussion featuring Ms. Medina on global product strategy and product stewardship in the consumer products industry, and throughout the production chain.

Ms. Medina’s presentation demonstrated how international high-level discussions can impact chemical companies.  Chemicals – and more specifically chemicals in products, and how they can impact human health and the environment – are high on the international agenda, she said.  Although international negotiations may take years to conclude, eventually the outcomes of the talks make their way into national law and regulation.

Consumers, governments and NGOs are increasingly vigilant in requesting that companies disclose information concerning formulations, ingredients and chemicals used in products, Ms. Medina said.  She cited the UN’s SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management) as just one of many ongoing discussions related to chemicals and emphasized the importance of becoming involved in the UN’s preparations for the Rio+ 20 conference, which takes place in 2012 and will mark the 20th anniversary of the watershed 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

The main themes of Rio + 20, said Ms. Medina, are the green economy and governance for sustainable development, both of which will undoubtedly touch upon how chemicals are managed. These discussions are extremely important because the conference’s expected final document will most likely be a political one, while possible outcomes range from potential treaty negotiating mandates to institutional changes to promote greater scrutiny of chemicals worldwide.  Additional expectations for business and other non-government actors are a given, she said.

The panel was moderated by John Phillips of Cardno ENTRIX.  Other panelists included Greg Skelton of the American Chemistry Council and Patricia Barone of Unilever.

Staff contact: Helen Medina

More on USCIB’s Product Policy Working Group