The management of environmental and health risks associated with products from global product chains is a pressing task for contemporary society, a task that involves public and private actors and poses great governance challenges. This article explores how governance arrangements relate to these challenges by focusing on how public and private procuring organizations interpret, use, develop and combine mandatory and voluntary policy instruments. This is theorized in terms of responsible governance of transnational supply chains (RGSC) as well as regarding the combination of vertical and horizontal governance (VG and HG). The article focuses on chemical risks in the textile sector, and is based on findings from case studies of Swedish public and private procuring organizations, with additional interviews with actors engaged in developing various policy instruments. The article shows how mandatory and voluntary policy instruments can - in various ways and combinations - assist in chemical risk management, but also highlights the existence of considerable limitations and gaps, which users need to develop a reflective awareness about. The article reveals different conditions for public and private procurers, and the conclusion includes suggestions on how to bridge the gap between private and public actors. Finally, we conclude by emphasizing that combinations of HG and VG arrangements promote constructive and feasible pathways towards RGSC, but which needs reflective and constructive efforts among actors with insight, willingness and capabilities to create governance linkages. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.