The following blog grew from a seed, a seed that was planted at a restaurant table, some alcohol, and as my daughter and I debated the world. She metaphorically got me pinned against the wall as I tried to defend some people’s choice of occupations, and the retort of “so you would be happy if I did that?” arrived like a 5-day old dead fish at my feet. After being clearly bested, I started thinking about all the other things that I would not be happy about her doing. Just looking at the smart device in my hand, I started thinking about the journey the raw materials took to get this to its current form in front of me. There is much in that supply chain that I would not want any human subjected to, yet they do. I like to believe their conditions were the best, they were paid a living wage (at a bare minimum), and they went home happy. But I cannot know this, and would be a fool to believe it. Which brings me to this trail of thoughts.

What follows is me teasing out how to account for ethical, moral, and social considerations during the journey of a product, from its inception to its impact on various stakeholders. 

Politicians talk about tariffs, taxes, and various import bans on certain goods. Which may harm local business because the economy is important. Often there are also underlying political issues which they are trying not to state out loud. Which makes me think, why do we not implement tariff and tax regimes that maybe reflect the values we may want to see? Think of it as a type of soft power, those states that best exemplify our best practices should get better access to our markets.

When I talk about ‘our’, I am thinking at the EU level. Likewise, I think these tariffs should also apply to components being brought into the EU for EU manufactured items.

This would require a ‘from the ground to the grave’ top-level view a product’s journey. We would require a robust set of reporting mechanisms and for everybody to be transparent. The importance of accurate and comprehensive reporting within the supply chain would become a defining factor of this. When all factors are considered, the tariffs will start to add up, which should make this an easy choice for a consumer, and more ethical business practices for the suppliers.

Factors like? 

First, I am thinking about the different facets of labour practices and ethical considerations around them, such as forced labour, fair wages, and the impact of employment contracts on workers’ well-being. In terms of the labour practices, I would hope that forced labour would result in the harshest of tariffs. While other elements such as are staff on zero-hour contracts could result in poorer ratings. Also ask workers on their state’s minimum wage, or a living wage?

Second, environmental considerations of a product. Think of the distance travelled during the various stages of production and the implications for the environment. We must reflect on punishing those that hurt the planet just to maximise profit. There are components that criss-cross the globe several times from raw material, then several stages of refinement, until finally ending up as part of a finished product. Only to be shipped again.

Third, product longevity and end-of-life considerations. I do believe we see more of this in workplaces now. Well, I have seen in on the IT side. But the timeframes do seem shockingly short. If a product is extremely complex to manufacture, then should this be not reflected on how long it should last us? We have moved into an overly consumer-based market. My grandmother handed us down working washing machines and a fridge when she passed in the 80s. They were already old when we got them, but they kept going until we could not find someone to fix them. We should measure these items’ life in decades. I think an average vehicle in the EU has a life of about 25 years. Let’s get this higher, I think finance plans that more reflect a products’ life could really encourage this, instead of reflecting how often a business wants you to buy. All this is in turn should help to contribute to much higher levels of sustainability and reduced waste. End-of-life considerations are always difficult, but maybe we should not let items be exported for recycling so easily? Too many states export hard problems. Carbon credits make me laugh, while it is easy to find pictures online of mountains of our ‘recycling’.

These areas alone should already start adding a significant ‘weight’ to the cost of items. On an item’s prices, there could be a label that shows how the price is divided into net, local tax, and then these ethical tariffs. This then provides a new level of consumer awareness and empowerment in driving ethical and sustainable consumption. Could you imagine how providing consumers with comprehensive information about products, including their ethical and environmental impact, can influence purchasing decisions? All this could even be in a QR code on the item. You may say most will ignore, but I would also expect some items and brands to soon become socially toxic to own because of the human cost anchored to them. Some industries may never be able to recover, but it may just force things to happen a little slower, with a bit more consideration.

There is a raft of regulatory and taxation implications all this will lead to. These areas are outside my lane, but I would like to believe these systems could be integrated into existing regulatory frameworks, and taxation policies, and used to incentivise these ethical and sustainable practices.

Once we have the rules and policy in place, then comes the hard day-to-day work of monitoring, auditing, and enforcement. New challenges and strategies will need to be developed to ensure the standards set by the product ranking system are met. Much of the needed The role of regulatory bodies, industry associations, and other stakeholders should already be in place as this is another layer, or ideally a replacement, of current tariff systems. This should place us in a good position in ensuring compliance and accountability.

Finally, it is the markets that will really determine the extent of the impact of these changes. There are sectors, companies, and states that could absorb the potential tariffs. But as I said area, I hope consumers concerns will help nudge the markets in the right direction. The potential impact of the proposed system on business practices immense, especially if we stop thinking about the punishment or the potential losers of this. There is a massive opportunity for ethical businesses to thrive within this system. Why should the ‘good for all of us’ products on the shelves cost more because they have done the right thing? Which in turn should force companies to look inward at their practices, both to maximise their scoring, and thus their profitability. Further, I would also like to imagine that governments are prohibited from awarding contracts, or buying products, which just do not meet a certain threshold. 

When I think of the ‘free market’, I often shudder of what it looks like in practice. But when we think of ‘markets’, be they farmer, or local, I am excited and incentivised to travel to them and spend money. I believe there is a massive disconnect in what consumers and businesses want from the market. I also believe most of it is rooted in that idea that “don’t take it personally, it’s just business” is actually nonsense. Any suffering, be it physical, mental, or environmental, should be considered an act of hate against all of us. Though, I am digressing now, and must come back to this reality I find myself in.

I know people who will be frothing at the mouth from some (much?) of the above. I state this as I do not believe I am alone in wanting to improve life for all of us, though must do so within the confines of the system that is considered the default. Much of it maybe also naive, but it is a signalling of a better alternative. Something that allows for (forces?) the thought-provoking exploration of the journey of products and the potential implications of a product ranking system based on ethical, environmental, and social criteria. Let the product label not just reflect the monetary price, let there be other clear considerations in the choices we make.