EU Commission proposes ban on sale of forced labour goods

The European Commission has published a proposal for a regulation which would prohibit EU companies from placing, or making available within the European Union, ‘products that are made with forced labour.’ It would also prohibit their export.

‘The prohibition,’ says the EU, ‘covers domestically produced and imported products. Building on international standards and complementing existing horizontal and sectoral EU initiatives, in particular the corporate sustainability due diligence and reporting obligations, the proposal lays down a prohibition supported by a robust, risk-based enforcement framework.’

In a factsheet, the EU explains that it believes the law will benefit:

• Workers – by contributing ‘to the eradication of forced labour both in the EU and elsewhere through banning products sold on the EU market, imported or exported goods, to the protection of workers’ rights, and through the ‘promotion of the EU’s decent work agenda;’
• Consumers – by providing ‘more confidence that the goods they buy have not been made by forced labour;’ and
• Business – through ‘better reputation and brand image, [providing] increased public trust and credibility to customers, increased social sustainability, and [establishing one] coherent set of rules to be followed across the EU market.’

Enforcement of the regulation will be carried out by Member States’ competent authorities, ‘facilitated by the involvement of customs authorities to identify and stop products at EU borders [and] based on risk-based approach drawing from independent and verifiable sources of information, such as the International Labour Organization.’

‘Next steps’ for the proposal, says the Commission, are that it must be approved by the Council of the EU and by the EU Parliament. The regulation will ‘apply 24 months after its entry into force.’

Observers have noted that while the proposal is consonant with moves by the United States government’s prohibition on imports from China’s Xinjiang region, the proposed regulation does not make mention of specific regions, countries or sectors.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_5415