mHRDD in Cambodia for the Ethical Trading Initiative

“In terms of my experience, I found Humantics to be well organised, highly skilled in business and human rights law and always readily available.

It was a pleasure working with such brilliant people, who are so passionate and experienced in this area of work. I would highly recommend them as partners.”

Margherita Parodi - ETI

Context

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) developed guidelines for member companies on the EU mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) legal framework.

To accompany these guidelines, ETI wanted to develop country-specific guides on how to practically apply EU mHRDD requirements in different country contexts. 

Challenge

ETI needed to understand how local laws in key garment sourcing countries (Cambodia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia) might relate to or conflict with EU mHRDD requirements

ETI needed to understand different perspectives of key stakeholders in each country – suppliers, workers, trade unions, civil society, and brands.

ETI wanted to incorporate practical insights, lessons learned, good practices, and challenges from each country.

Solution

Humantics developed a Cambodia country guideline for ETI. The guideline detailed Cambodian mHRDD laws, compared Cambodian legal requirements to EU standards, and identified challenges and conflicts.

The guideline also included practical recommendations, lessons learned, and case studies on how to effectively conduct mHRDD in Cambodia’s garment sector.

Humantics convened stakeholder workshops and consultations in Cambodia with suppliers, brands, worker organisations, and civil society to inform the guidelines.