On March 11, 2021, the UK Government launched an online modern slavery statement registry. The announcement follows a commitment from the UK Government to strengthen the reporting requirements under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 following its Transparency in Supply Chains Consultation.

The registry is intended to enhance transparency and accessibility by bringing modern slavery statements together in one place. It will allow consumers, business counterparties, investors and civil society to search for statements and scrutinise the steps organisations are taking to identify and address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.

Currently, organisations are strongly encouraged to submit their most recently published statement to the registry to demonstrate that they have reported. In the future, organisations required to produce a statement under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act will be obliged, once the promised legislation has been introduced, to submit statements to the registry as part of the proposed changes to strengthen the reporting requirements to the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

For more information about the UK Government’s commitment to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act 2015, please see our Legal Update at MayerBrown.com.