A/69/299 V. Transnational corporations 36. Globalization and trade liberalization have allowed transnational corporations to gain greater and easier access to otherwise closed markets. Their increasing presence in the world economy has enabled them to influence international and domestic law-making and infringe upon States’ policy space. They have influenced food consumption patterns 27 and promoted the use of tobacco, especially in developing countries. 28 They have also affected the rights of large communities with impunity, causing displacement, 29 contamination of groundwater 30 and loss of livelihood. 31 They have directly perpetrated serious human rights violations, in particular in developing and least developed countries. 32 They have thus seriously affected the laws, policies and social and economic environments of States and have violated the economic, social and cultural rights of individuals and comm unities, including the right to health. 37. It may be difficult for States or affected individuals to hold foreign transnational corporations accountable for harmful actions that were orchestrated through their domestic subsidiary. The involvement of multiple jurisdictions may effectively protect transnational corporations from liability for their human rights violations 33 or may lead to protracted litigation in multiple forums. 34 38. The magnitude of violations by transnational corporations and the ease wi th which they can evade responsibility for such violations call for an international mechanism to hold them liable for human rights abuses. Such a mechanism should supplement domestic laws rather than diminish the importance of domestic law. The mechanism should therefore enable States and individuals to hold transnational corporations to account for their human rights violations. 39. Previous efforts made in international forums to confer obligations on transnational corporations have resulted only in voluntary guidelines. 35 In 2003, the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights approved norms __________________ 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 12/22 See Corinna Hawkes, “Uneven dietary development: linking the policies and processes of globalization with the nutrition transition, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases”, Globalization and Health, vol. 2, No. 4 (2006). See M. Otañez, H. Mamudu and S. Glantz, “Tobacco companies’ use of developing countries’ economic reliance on tobacco to lobby against global tobacco control: the case of Malawi”, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 99, No. 10 (October 2009). See Human Rights Watch, “How Can We Survive Here?”: The Impact of Mining on Human Rights in Karamoja, Uganda (2014). See N. Cingotti and others, “No fracking way: how the EU-US trade agreement risks expanding fracking”, Issue Brief (Transnational Institute, March 2014). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “India: urgent call to halt Odisha mega-steel project amid serious human rights concerns”. Available from www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13805&LangID=E. Olivier De Schutter, “The accountability of multinationals for human rights violations in European law”, New York University School of Law, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice Working Paper No. 1, 2004. Amnesty International, “India: court decision requires Dow Chemical to respond to Bhopal gas tragedy”, 3 July 2013. Reuters, “Ecuador plaintiffs file lawsuit in Canada against Chevron”, 30 May 2012. The Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation for Development in 1976; the Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy adopted by the International Labour Organization in 1977; and the United Nations Global Compact initiated by the Secretary-General in 1999. 14-59014