Improving Transparency and Human Rights in Procurement: An Incentive-Based Approach

The U.S. government is the single largest purchaser of goods in the world. In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. government obligated $755 billion, with approximately $259 billion spent on products, including many items that require multitiered and geographically diverse supply chains. This large purchasing power creates significant opportunities to foster positive change in supply chains and makes government procurement an important, and underutilized, inroad for the protection of human rights. This protection of human rights in supply chains is vital to both U.S. economic and national security interests. Without these protections, U.S. companies are forced to compete on price against companies using supply chains with forced labor or other labor rights violations, and malign actors who are implicated in a wide range of international crimes and foment instability can be empowered by human trafficking and forced labor.

This report explores potential means for utilizing this procurement capacity and creating greater space for human rights protections within federal government procurement. The report takes an additive view, examining ways in which incentives can be created for bidders to protect human rights in their supply chains, creating opportunities for the private sector to move toward cleaner and more transparent supply chains while maintaining and deepening its procurement relationships with the federal government. It also examines ways in which the federal government can work with the private sector to develop supply chains free of violations.

This report is made possible through generous support from Humanity United.