ABSTRACT
A growing number of companies of differing sizes feel compelled to accept chain responsibility. Chain responsibility is understood to involve urging other companies in the chain to observe (inter)national guidelines and standards with regard to, for example, the environment, human rights, working conditions and integrity. The chapter explains step-by-step plan for global chain responsibility and illustrates with company-specific case material. An international product chain is usually so complex that it is impossible to get all parts of the chain heading in the same direction. Complex product chains can roughly be divided into two types: chains oriented towards agricultural production and chains oriented towards industrial production. The ways in which companies can organise chain responsibility in an international context turn out to vary substantially. It depends on the complexity and diversity of the product chain, the level of ambition set and the power of the company in the chain.
