European Parliament Adopts Legislation Banning Goods Made With Forced Labor From EU

The European Parliament's Internal Market and International Trade committees adopted a draft regulation that would provide a framework for investigating the use of forced labor in global supply chains and bans all goods using forced labor, the parliament announced. If the investigation of a company reveals the use of forced labor, the European Parliament said, "all import and export of the related goods would be halted at the EU's borders and companies would also have to withdraw goods that have already reached the EU market." Goods that had reached the market would be "donated, recycled or destroyed."

The parliament's draft regulation amended a proposal from the European Commission to task the commission with creating a list of areas and sectors at "high risk of using forced labour." For these areas, the burden of proof would fall on the company, instead of the EU government, to prove that the firm's goods are not made with forced labor.

Companies for which an adverse forced labor finding has been made would be allowed to import goods only once they have proved they no longer use forced labor in their supply chains. The draft regulation also updated and widened the definitions found in the text, particularly the definition of forced labor, which was altered to align with International Labor Organization standards. The definition reads: "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily."

The Internal Market and International Trade committees adopted the draft report by a 66-0 vote, with 10 abstentions. The next steps are for the plenary to confirm the regulation as the parliament's negotiating mandate and then European Council to adopt the position. That would be following negotiations on the "final shape of the regulation."