Purpose of the Transparency Act

The purpose of the Transparency Act is to help ensure that businesses respect fundamental human rights and decent working conditions, and to ensure that the public has access to information about how businesses handle conditions that may have a negative impact on human rights and decent working conditions. This will provide a tool for consumers and clients who want to make informed choices, and accountability can become a competitive advantage.

The law is based on three main measures to promote the above-mentioned purposes:

  1. An obligation for businesses to conduct due diligence assessments in line with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

  2. An obligation for businesses to annually publish a report on their due diligence assessments, including actual negative consequences and significant risk of negative consequences and measures the business has taken or plans to take to stop this.

  3. A right for everyone to request information from businesses covered by the law about how they are addressing actual and potential negative impacts on fundamental human rights and working conditions, and an obligation for businesses to respond to such requests. Note that this applies to both general information and information related to a specific product or service.

Who does the law apply to?

The law applies to larger businesses that are domiciled in Norway and that offer goods and services in or outside Norway. 

Larger businesses are defined as:

  • All businesses covered by the Accounting Act Section 1-5,

  • Or which on the balance sheet date exceeds at least two of the following conditions:

    • Sales revenue: NOK 70 million

    • Balance sheet total: NOK 35 million

    • Average number of employees in the financial year: 50 full-time equivalents

Note that parent companies are covered if the parent and subsidiaries meet the requirements as a unit.

Duty to provide information

You have the right to receive information when you need it. If you are unsure what kind of information you are entitled to, or if you are curious about the process of getting a response from us, you can read an excerpt from the legislation here:

§6 Right to information

  • Anyone can ask, but it must be in writing. Both general information and information related to a specific product or service that the business offers.

  • Companies are not obliged to provide the name of the production site, but the public should receive comprehensive and correct information, such as where in the world, under which conditions.

  • Conditions, context, potential and actual negative consequences, and how the company is working on measures to safeguard working conditions at the production site.

  • Central to due diligence assessments is stakeholder dialogue. New information may emerge that the business was not aware of, thereby updating the business's risk analysis and measures.

Information requests may be denied if:

It does not provide sufficient grounds to identify what the claim concerns The claim is manifestly unreasonable Information about personal circumstances Operational or trade secrets 

Regardless of the limitations in the four points above, there is always a duty to disclose actual negative consequences for human rights of which the business is aware. The exception is:

  • Classified information according to the Security Act

  • Information protected under the Copyright Act

 

§7 The company's processing of information requests

  • The response must be in writing, comprehensive and understandable, within a reasonable time and no later than 3 weeks, 2 months if additional information needs to be obtained. 

  • If the business refuses an information request, it must provide information about the legal basis for the refusal, the right and deadline to request further justification for the refusal, and about the Norwegian Consumer Authority as a supervisory and guidance body. 

  • Anyone who is refused may request further justification within three weeks. The business must respond in writing as soon as possible and no later than within three weeks.

Our approach to legislation is always based on the "Act on Business Transparency and Work with Fundamental Human Rights and Decent Working Conditions". We reserve the right to change the text of the law that has not been updated on our website. Read the law in its entirety here.