STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ON A NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR MALAYSIA with gross human rights abuses and refuses to cooperate in addressing the situation; (d) Ensuring that their current policies, legislation, regulations and enforcement measures are effective in addressing the risk of business involvement in gross human rights abuses. (11) Ensure respect for human rights in business activities in conflict-affected areas 83. The extent to which Malaysian companies are operating in conflict-affected areas is unclear. There have been reports of Malaysian companies being implicated in or potentially linked to human rights abuses in conflict-affected and high risk areas.85 84. Some countries have taken steps to encourage companies whose business activities may link them to conflict to exercise due diligence to ensure respect for human rights. For example, the U.S. government has enacted legislation requiring certain listed companies to disclose their connections to conflict minerals, and assess their supply chains to determine whether the minerals supplied originated from the Democratic Republic of Congo or adjoining countries.86 Also, in 2014, the European Commission proposed an EU system of self-certification for importers of certain metals and their ores that would encourage these importers to conduct due diligence in line with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict Affected and High-Risk Areas. 87 Ensuring respect for human rights in the provision of security services in conflict-affected areas is also a relevant issue. The U.K. NAP on business and human rights contains measures for ensuring that private security providers respect human rights. Other relevant instruments include the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers. 85. Recommendation: The Commission recommends that the Government consider including business activities in conflict-affected areas as a thematic issue in the NAP. Relevant Government bodies: Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism and MITI Guiding Principle 8 States should ensure that governmental departments, agencies and other State-based institutions that shape business practices are aware of and observe the State’s human rights obligations when fulfilling their respective mandates, including by providing them with relevant information, training and support. (12) Ensure policy coherence regarding business and human rights across government departments at the federal and state levels 86. As observed in the UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework, States generally tend to regulate human rights compliance through processes that are separate from or peripheral to the regulation of business and economic activities.88 Keeping human rights compliance siloed in its own conceptual and institutional ‘box’ is a governance gap that contributes to the occurrence of business-related human rights abuses. 87. The Government should therefore ensure policy coherence with regard to business and human rights. This means including human rights compliance as an essential policy consideration in all 27