Commenting on the draft for the introduction of a national supply chain law, which was passed today, the Confederation of German Employers' Associations states:

Berlin, 3 March 2021: "The BDA rejects the planned Supply Chain Act. The draft adopted today goes far beyond the requirements of the coalition agreement of the Federal Government. For example, new corporate obligations are created that go well beyond the regulations of the German government's National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights. In particular, it is problematic that the draft law has been cobbled together with a hot needle, raises many unanswered questions and thus creates legal uncertainty. Overall, the planned legal requirements are far too far-reaching and their scope is unmanageable. Companies that want to ensure that they are not affected by the sanctions of the Supply Chain Act therefore have no choice but to withdraw from developing countries with a challenging human rights situation. In this way, the law harms the very people it is supposed to help.

The introduction of a national supply chain law represents a dangerous national special path that puts German companies at a severe disadvantage in European and global competition. It will lead to foreign companies, which do not have to comply with German requirements, taking the place of the foreign trade engagement of German companies.

If, nevertheless, this plan is to be continued, the burdensome requirements for companies must at least be reduced to a manageable level, the legal responsibility for indirect suppliers must be limited and extensions of liability must be avoided in a legally secure manner."