By Fabiana Negrin Ochoa 



  Samsung Electronics Co. was listed as one of the top three information and communications technology companies in a report evaluating corporate efforts to tackle forced labor risks in their supply chains. 


  The South Korean electronics giant tied HP Inc. for second place with a score of 69 out of 100, with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. taking first place with 70 in the benchmark released Tuesday by KnowTheChain, a supply-chain accountability initiative. 


  Samsung says on its website that it regularly monitors its approximately 2,500 suppliers to manage sustainability risks such as human rights and "takes on" its responsibility to comply with the Responsible Business Alliance code of conduct. 


  The alliance is the world's largest industry coalition dedicated to social responsibility in supply chains. 


  KnowTheChain said its latest assessment shows ICT companies are still broadly failing to tackle forced labor in supply chains. 


  The average score of the 49 businesses it assessed was 30, with 76% scoring below 50, including Walmart Inc., Nokia Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. 


  Asian companies that were among the lowest scorers were Sony Corp., Nintendo Co., Panasonic Corp. and Xiaomi Corp., with scores of 36, 23, 13 and 0, respectively. 


  Like Samsung, Sony has said it is part of the RBA and applies its code of conduct to both its own electronics manufacturing sites and those of its suppliers. 


  The Japanese company said in a report that it regularly reviews its supply chain via self-assessment, on-site assessment and third-party audits. 


  KnowTheChain said every company failed to show how they ensure workers' rights to organize--"a crucial safeguard against abuse"--and the low scores indicate most are ill-prepared to tackle rising risks to workers from Covid-19 supply chain fallout. 


  On the other hand, ICT companies have increased efforts to stop workers being charged recruitment fees, a situation that puts many at risk of debt bondage, the group said. 


  Rounding out the top-scoring end of the report were Intel Corp. and Apple Inc., followed by Dell and Microsoft Corp. 


  KnowTheChain evaluated companies' policies from August 2019 to January 2020, using methodology based on the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. 


  Write to Fabiana Negrin Ochoa at fabiana.negrinochoa@dowjones.com