Labor Department Launches New Tools to Strengthen Supply Chains

The U.S. Department of Labor launched a new suite of voluntary self-assessment tools to empower U.S. companies to strengthen their global supply chains, protect their brands, and defend American workers from unfair competition due to labor abuses overseas.

The voluntary self-assessment tools provide practical, user-friendly guidance to help companies evaluate labor practices, map supply-chain risks, and take concrete steps to ensure alignment with U.S. law banning imports made with forced labor.

The self-assessment tools launched today are: 

• LaborShield: A mobile app that features information on egregious labor violations in over 145 countries. 
• ImportWatch: A resource that brings together the department’s labor abuse research with U.S. import data from the U.S. Census Bureau to produce a red-flag list of all high-risk goods for U.S. importers.
• SourcingStrong: A tool to help U.S. businesses build strong labor due diligence systems to identify and manage risk in their supply chains.
• Supply Chain Traceability Portal: The portal provides visibility across supply chains and beyond the first tier to expose where exploitative labor hides.