On 18 November 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken) published its consultation on the draft bill of the Corporate International Responsibility Act (Wet internationaal verantwoord ondernemen) (the Act). The Act will implement the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (Directive 2024/1670, the CSDDD), into Dutch law. The Act will impose obligations on large companies to be considerate of human rights, environmental protection and climate change.

Key points of the proposed legislation

The Act will apply to companies established in the Netherlands with more than 1,000 employees and a global net revenue of more than €450 million, as well as non-EU companies with a branch office in the Netherlands that operate in the European Economic Area (EEA) which have more than €450 million of net income. The main provisions of the Act concern:

• Due diligence:Companies must identify, prevent, mitigate and address negative human rights and environmental impacts.
• Climate strategy:Every company must have a strategy to combat climate change.
• Transparency:Companies must report on their actions to ensure compliance with the law.
• Supervision and enforcement: The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument en Markt, ACM) will be designated as the regulator. In addition, the District Court of Rotterdam and the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal will serve as competent administrative bodies.

Comments are particularly encouraged on the supervisory mechanism, where the ACM will supervise compliance and no distinction is made for the supervision of compliance by the financial sector.

Stakeholders may respond to the consultation through the official consultation website until 29 December 2024. For more information on the consultation and the ability to respond,  please visit the government website.