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Business practices for effective human rights due diligence in shipping

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Business practices for effective human rights due diligence in shipping

Companies working with the ITF on shipping HRDD have developed bespoke solutions to mitigate risks in their supply chains:

Stakeholder engagement

Seek, establish and maintain business relationships with charterers or combined logistics providers who commit to engage in the shipping of a company’s cargo only using FOC vesselships with an ITF Agreement, or national flag vesselships with a national bargaining agreement

This provides companies with an assurance that human rights safeguards are in place for seafarers. Companies can also rely on seafarers having an accessible means to make an anonymous complaint through the ITF Inspectorate network, providing an additional informal grievance mechanism at the operational level.

ITF agreement requirements

Require shipping or combined logistics providers to attest to having ITF Agreements on ships and include this as a contract term in a company’s own shipping or logistics supplier agreements. Demand that this is cascaded into any agreements between a company’s logistics suppliers and any additional subcontractors/suppliers of shipping services. 

Crew management

Require charterers to agree with any crew managers and/or manning agents that the manning agent will provide engagement, training and information packages to seafarers concerning their human rights. These should include occupational saftety and health, the role of the ITF, and seafarers’ direct access to the ITF’s global network of inspectors. 

Accessibility of information

Require charterers to agree to ensure similar information is accessible in documents visible on board, and in the case of ITF inspections (permitted by the ITF Agreement). 

Address root causes

Cease behaviours in their own business, management, pricing and tender models that may be root causes of exploitative practices in transport services along the supply chain.