Maya Forstater

It's not law yet. And yes, everything depends on enforcement. But this is still surprising. The big Swiss group of multinationals has endorsed it, weirdly.

This is an initiative to bring a popular vote. We vote on initiatives all the time in Switzerland, so this is a very standard process. The government recommended rejection of the idea. Now one chamber of parliament is suggesting a potential counter-proposal to the initative.

Oh yes, I understand that. I was trying to summarise. That detail is in the link I shared. But I still find it astonishing that there was a majority vote for this in the legal committee. And they do have support of the group of MNCs.

But maybe the legal committee doesn't really support it, maybe they expect it to fail to get votes?

Your context, about this being normal, helps me understand the counter proposal. Thank you Dina. But still I'm.surprised that there is any business support.

The other issue with the counter-proposal is that parent companies are not liable for their suppliers, but only those companies they directly control. So this wouldn't create liability for events like Rana Plaza, or abuses caused by Shell's suppliers in Ogoniland.

Isn't the main proposal also only for companies that are controlled? (i.e. as implied by 'parent company') -- it says can include suppliers where they are essentially controlled eg. they only have one customer, but not the broad supply chain responsibility you suggest?