The text of the following statement was released by the governments of the United States of America and 17 partner economies on the occasion of the Supply Chain Ministerial Forum.
Shocks to global supply chains from pandemics, wars and conflicts, extreme climate impacts and natural disasters have greatly facilitated the urgent need to further strengthen supply chains, to work to reduce and end short-term disruptions and build long-term resilience. This is a global challenge that we intend to approach decisively and cooperatively.
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom and United States of America States (hereinafter: Participants) , following their engagement at the 2022 Supply Chain Ministerial Forum, intend to work together on the crisis response in an effort to mitigate short-term disruptions and bottlenecks in transport, logistics and supply chain, as well as long-term long-term resilience challenges that make our supply chains vulnerable and cause spillover effects for consumers, large and small businesses, workers and families. To ensure that this effort is effective and reaches those most in need, we intend to engage in this work with businesses, workers, academia, workers and civil society, including women, representatives of local and other communities, in accordance with domestic laws participants and international obligations and different levels of government.
Building collective, long-term resilient supply chains based on international partnerships is critical to the success of this effort. To achieve this, we aim to follow these global supply chain principles:
Transparency: We intend to promote transparency in consultation with the private sector, civil society, various levels of government and other relevant stakeholders, in accordance with domestic laws and international obligations of participants, to strengthen the resilience of supply chains. Consultations with civil society, in accordance with domestic laws and international obligations of the participants, are an important part of transparency. We intend to enhance information sharing, and, to the extent possible, common approaches and early warning systems, on potential, emerging and systematic supply challenges. We intend to undertake this cooperation in accordance with the domestic laws and international obligations of the participants and with the utmost care to protect non-public information, including information necessary to protect essential security interests.
Diversification: We aim to promote diversification and increase global capacity for multiple, reliable and sustainable sources of materials and inputs, intermediates and finished goods in priority sectors, together with logistics infrastructure capacity, increasing the resilience of supply chains to make our economies less vulnerable to disruptions and shocks . We intend to explore opportunities to promote public and private investment in supply chains in priority sectors and encourage partnerships and joint ventures to access and develop environmentally and socially responsible materials and inputs.
Our goal is to promote the inclusion of small and medium-sized enterprises in priority supply chains. Our goal is to promote the adoption of digital technologies by micro, small and medium-sized companies. In order to advance the principles of equality and inclusion, we aim and strive to ensure investments in a wide range of communities, in accordance with domestic laws and international obligations of participants, across our economies.
Predictability is important for resilient supply chains, and we will strive to work together to promote predictability, openness, fairness and non-discrimination in our economic relationships as they affect our supply chains. We aim to strengthen and foster our long-standing economic partnerships and rules-based supply chain relationships.
Security: To promote supply chain security, we intend to deepen our consultation to identify and address risks arising from supply dependencies and potential vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. We intend to work together to address our shared vulnerabilities and work to eliminate corruption in support of supply chain security. We encourage participants to undertake this collaboration in partnership with industry, labor and civil society, and other relevant stakeholders, in accordance with domestic laws, to better understand and manage security risks to supply chains.
Sustainability: We intend to promote global sustainability and responsible business in all supply chains, as well as the goals set out in relevant multilateral environmental agreements to which we are signatories, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. We encourage the adoption of responsible business practices and recognize the importance of implementing our respective obligations under international labor conventions ratified by relevant countries along the value chain to ensure that the opening of new procurement options or the supply chain does not override existing obligations to protect human rights. . This includes our intention to work together to eradicate the use of forced labor in global supply chains. Our goal is to encourage increased use of recycled materials and product components. We also aim to encourage and support fair and sustainable production and trade of products, in accordance with domestic laws and international obligations of participants, including through the circular economy, bioeconomy and other approaches, which advance the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and which advance the sustainable development goals of the UN.
We welcome all economies and invite all industries, businesses, women, workers, officials from different levels of government, labor and civil society and other stakeholders to join us in the search for resilient supply chains, guided by these principles. We recognize that the key to solving the next global supply chain crisis is to prevent it from happening.
