|TOP|The humanitarian agency Christian Aid has called for changes in the law that will make UK companies more socially responsible abroad.

As part of the Trade Justice Movement and the Corporate Responsibility Coalition (CORE), Christian Aid has appealed to Industry Minister Alun Michael MP to amend the Company Law Reform Bill.

It is hoped that greater regulation will ensure the directors of UK companies are more legally responsible for the impact of their businesses on people and the environment.

“Christian Aid recognises the positive contribution UK businesses can make to poverty reduction, through the jobs, technology and skills transferred to the countries in which they operate. However, as we have documented in much of our work, corporate malpractice still continues,” read a Christian Aid press statement.

|QUOTE|“For many poor people in developing countries life is made considerably worse by the presence of a multi national and the companies involved remain, in a large part, ‘outside the law’. “

Under current law, companies headquartered in the UK cannot be held legally accountable for their overseas operations.

“Changes to the Company Law Reform Bill could change that,” read the statement.

Christian Aid is calling for changes in the Bill that will legally require companies to report on the social and environmental impact of their corporate operations abroad.

Further changes have been urged to ensure directors are legally obliged to minimise any damage their company does to local communities and the environment.
Christian Aid is also calling for an amendment to enable people overseas to take action against the company in a UK court in the event that they have been harmed by the company’s activities.

|AD|“If this Bill was amended to incorporate these changes poor people would stand to gain enormously,” the statement read.

According to a poll commissioned by the CORE Coalition and the Trade Justice Movement, nine out of ten people in Britain support the introduction of new regulations by the British Government that will ensure businesses minimise any harm from their operations, particularly to poor communities and the environment.

The Corporate Responsibility Coalition was set up in 2001 to change the voluntary approach to corporate accountability by urging the government to enact laws that would ensure profit-making goes hand-in-hand with a greater corporate responsibility.

The TRJ regularly campaigns against the negligence of many multinational corporations that cause harm to communities, damage the environment and violate the rights of working people through their trade practices.
The TJM is calling on individuals to lobby their local MPs between March and May in the run up the debate on the new company laws that will take place this spring.