§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to establish an international code of conduct for transnational corporations in developing countries. [73280]
§ Mr. WilsonI have been asked to reply.
There are no specific plans for such a code. However, the Government are participating fully in the current review of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, a set of recommendations representing Governments' firm expectations for multinational enterprise behaviour. A key question being addressed in the review is how the Guidelines relate to multinational enterprise activity outside OECD territories. We support also the use of voluntary codes of conduct by companies. Those based on internationally agreed core labour standards can bring improvements to the lives of millions of the poorest people.