EU Secures Final Approval for New Forced Labor Rules
EU ministers this week officially adopted a ban on products made with forced labor, marking one of the final steps in a yearslong lawmaking process designed to eliminate EU imports, exports or other sales of those goods (see 2404230048 and 2403050035). The new regulations will apply about three years after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
The new law “creates the necessary framework on which to base legal action targeting products” made with forced labor, the Council of the European Union said. The European Commission will be responsible for investigating forced labor-related cases outside the EU, and individual member states will take the lead on investigations on imports to or exports from their territory that are suspected of having ties to forced labor. The final decision to ban a product will be taken by “the authority that led the investigation,” the council said, with that ban applying across the EU.
It also said member states should share information with each other about forced labor concerns, either involving products within the EU or imported from a third country. Under the law, the European Commission must create a digital database of products and regions with forced labor risks, and it will identify specific products or product groups for which importers and exporters need to submit “extra details” to EU customs, including information on the manufacturer and suppliers of those products.
Human rights advocacy groups applauded the new rules, with Human Rights Watch calling the measures a “decisive step in combating” forced labor and “holding corporations to account.” It also said the rules will complement the new EU-wide supply chain due diligence rules, which will require certain companies to conduct specific due diligence on their supply chains, including to root out forced labor (see 2405240031).
But Human Rights Watch also said much will depend on how the EU enforces the new law. It said “effective enforcement” will require member states and the commission to “significantly boost their capacity to investigate and effectively ban products made with forced labor,” adding that the commission should start by identifying Xinjiang, Turkmenistan and North Korea as high risk for forced labor.
“That will make it easier for investigators to target products tainted by forced labor and lay the ground for a systemic change,” the group said.
The Environmental Justice Foundation called the rules a “significant step forward in the fight” against forced labor, but also said the EU needs to make sure it’s enforced.
Passing the law is “only the first step,” said Steve Trent, the foundation’s CEO. “The true test lies in how swiftly and ambitiously it is implemented. Failure to act decisively, including through the allocation of sufficient resources in delivering product bans, would mean ongoing impunity for exploitative companies."