The role of large companies and governance issues in the meat supply chain in sustainability regulation and social and environmental reporting

Corporate social responsibility and sustainability play a significant role in agri-food companies, including the meat and meat products sector. Indeed, the competitive tensions that exist within the system can drive companies, particularly those at the top of the supply chain, to engage in forms of human rights abuses. These include the exploitation of workers and the use of illegal, child and servile labour; the exertion of overwhelming economic pressure on companies at the bottom of the supply chain; and the degradation of the environment and natural resources. The latter form of exploitation can favour both the impoverishment and decay of the soil and the occurrence of adverse and catastrophic weather events, which reduce the overall productive capacity of the agri-food system. Moreover, food fraud practices may be encouraged to the detriment of product quality, animal welfare and public and consumer health. Therefore, the issues of socially responsible business, corporate social responsibility and social and environmental sustainability assume fundamental prominence in the agri-food sector, and meat in particular.