A review of Dutch policy for socially responsible public procurement

The government can play a stimulating role in preventing the violation of international labour standards through its own purchasing and procurement policies and pratices. Within the United Nations Principles for Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles) public procurement is explicitly mentioned as a tool for governments to promote labour rights in companies. The Dutch government has set targets for sustainable procurement and developed the so-called Social Policy, in which international labour standards are included . SOMO feels that the Dutch government can have a positive impact on working conditions in the global supply chains through its own socially public procurement. However, it is not clear how this policy by the national government should be applied. SOMO aims to provide more insight into the practical application of the Social Conditions in the procurement process , so that policy makers and civil society can improve on this through policy evaluations . This study assesses the implementation of the national policy on the national level, within the provinces and lower governing bodies. SOMO looked at tenders in electronics (phones), (company) clothing, coffee (for vending machines) and natural stone (for the renovation of streets or public squares). This study shows that governments hardly apply the national policies. In only 3 of the 25 cases, they were literally referred to. In 15 of 25 cases (60 %), respect for international labour standards were included in the tender specifications, but this was mostly not done according to the rules and guidelines of the national policy for sustainable procurement.