EU due diligence directive to hold brands, buyers and exporters accountable: Experts

The EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), under the European Union’s Due Diligence Act, will create an opportunity to hold brands and buyers accountable, along with Bangladesh’s exporters, experts said on Sunday.

Their observations came at a training programme held at a city hotel on Sunday.

“Bangladesh and other suppliers to EU countries will have to comply with the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), scheduled to be effective in 2029," said Shahinur Rahman, a Dhaka-based consultant of Mondiaal FNV, the international solidarity arm of the Dutch trade union confederation FNV, the largest trade union federation in the Netherlands.

However, he added, it will also be an opportunity to hold brands and buyers accountable to due diligence requirements, particularly on responsible business practices, including fair pricing and other labour rights issues.

He emphasised the need for a coordinated approach from stakeholders—suppliers, labour organisations, and the international community—to make brands accountable.

He also pointed out that while some brands are ready to pay fair prices, suppliers themselves often undercut prices due to intense competition among local producers for export orders.

The EU Due Diligence Act, adopted in 2024, makes large companies legally responsible for human rights and environmental impacts across their entire global supply chains.

The CSDDD, operating under this Act, requires large companies in the EU—and certain non-EU companies doing significant business there—to identify, prevent, and address adverse human rights and environmental impacts in their operations, subsidiaries, and global supply chains.

It is scheduled to come into effect in 2029, he said while addressing the second day of the two-day training program titled "Training on Capacity Building for Journalists on Human Rights Due Diligence", organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS).

Labour leaders highlighted Bangladesh’s need to prepare for the challenges that will arise once the CSDDD comes into effect.

Naimul Ahsan Jewel, General Secretary of Jatiya Sramik Jote, said at Saturday’s session: “If the government fails to make proper policies to protect labour rights and ensure sustainable production, Bangladesh may lose export orders, as buyers will not want to risk fines by placing orders in a country where the CSDDD is not properly complied with.”

Among others, BILS Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, its Director Nazma Yesmin, Deputy Director Md. Yousuf Al-Mamun, and Md. Aurongajeb Akond, Associate Professor of Mawlana Bhasani Science and Technology University, also spoke at the event.

Munni_fe@yahoo.com