The European Parliament has given its final approval to a new regulation enabling the EU to prohibit the sale, import, and export of goods made using forced labour.
Member state authorities and the European Commission will be able to investigate suspicious goods, supply chains, and manufacturers. If a product is deemed to have been made using forced labour, it will no longer be possible to sell it on the EU market (including online) and shipments will be intercepted at the EU’s borders.
Originally proposed in 2021, the rulemaking had been stymied by resistance from industry groups, with the final result lacking much of the efficacy of the US version, the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act.
Loopholes include a provision allowing national authorities to ask companies that provide “critical products” to withhold their products until they can demonstrate no more links to forced labour in their operations, essentially delaying the bans.
More meaningfully, there is no presumption of state-imposed forced labour in high-risk areas and sectors where there is evidence of slave labour.
"The Commission proposes to exclude goods from the market only after the existence of forced labor in their supply chain has been established, not when it is suspected," a German MP objected.
In US legislation, authorities may prohibit imports based on reasonable suspicion. The US framework also places the onus on companies to prove their products are free from forced labor.
The EU proposal, in contrast, places the burden of proof on European authorities, which are under-resourced and would end up doing piecemeal enforcement, critics say.
Instead of presumptions or regional bans, the EU Commission will have to draw up a list of those areas and sectors and an online platform will be set up "for stakeholders to check all available information."
Investigations
Decisions to investigate "will be based on factual and verifiable information that can be received from, for example, international organisations, cooperating authorities and whistle-blowers," according to the European Parliment.
Several risk factors and criteria will be taken into account, including the prevalence of state-imposed forced labour in certain economic sectors and geographic areas.
Consequences for companies using forced labour
Once the process of evaluation is complete, manufacturers of banned goods will have to withdraw their products from the EU single market and donate, recycle or destroy them.
Non-compliant companies could be fined. The goods may be allowed back on the EU single market once the company eliminates forced labour from its supply chains.
Earlier this month, Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the State Department to increase diplomacy to ensure companies profiting off the CCP’s ongoing genocide in Xinjiang are not able to access global markets.
In the letter, the lawmakers write, “We are particularly concerned that goods made by Uyghur forced labor continue to flood into Europe and the United Kingdom (UK), which some have described as ‘dumping grounds’ for these products that are otherwise banned from importation into the United States. The State Department plays a critical role in working with our allies and partners to ensure that companies profiting off the CCP’s ongoing genocide in Xinjiang find no safe markets for their wares.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here