Ethical Business in Global Trade Essay

Ethical Business in Global Trade Introduction            Ethics can be defined as the â€Å"well founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to the society, fairness or specific virtues† (Manuel et al., 2010) In relation to Human labor, Auret van Heerden (2010) says that employers should treat employees like Human beings. Violation of human rights in the global food chain amounts to unethical business practices. Employees working for excess hours, companies employing children below the International Labor Organization required age, employees being paid peanuts and safety measures for employees not being maintained to avoid injuries are some of the unethical practices related to global chain            The role of the governments in the supply chain is to ensure that the rights of workers who work hard in production of raw materials and preparation of the final products are maintained (Auret, V.H. 2010). These governments are also placed with a duty to ensure that the safety of the products is maintained. This is possible with establishment of a code of conduct to govern operations of the companies involved in the global food chains. Frequent Inspection should be conducted with stiff penalties to companies that violate the human rights and safety measures of the product.            Management of a global market presents a challenge due to involvement of many governments. While the USA may have well laid down measures and regulations for ethical business practices of these companies, other countries in the global food chain may not have them. Some countries avoid putting up stringent measures in order for them to attract investors at the expense of ethical business activities            The fight for ethical business practices in the global food chain is very much achievable. These will require governments to work together. Consumers of these products can also have a critical role to play by giving a snub to products from companies that do not conform to ethical business practices. References Auret van Heerden (2010). Making Global Labor Fair. Retrieved fromhttp://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2010G/None/AuretvanHeerden_2010G.mp4Manuel, V., Claire, A., Thomas, S., S. J., & Michael, J.M. What is Ethics? Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics2.html?utm_expid=6222598-1.kwhpOqkUTTeXUGI-lneo5w.2 Source document