Fishermen in Thailand. Cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast. Palm oil harvesters in Malaysia. Even under-aged migrant workers in the United States. The world is slowly learning that in too many places, the lowest but perhaps the most crucial link in a supply chain depends on forced labor. In a business climate that trumpets every corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, the exposure of human trafficking in the darkest corners of a company's extended supply chain is calling into question exactly how much visibility companies have into their product lifecycles. Consider global food giant Nestle, for instance, which made headlines recently when a class action lawsuit alleged that one of the suppliers to its company's Purina cat food division is using slave labor. The allegations claim that Thai Union Frozen Products, a Thailand-based supplier offish products, engages in human trafficking to crew its fishing boats.
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