The Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a regulation that prohibits products made with forced labour from entering the EU market. The agreement supports the proposal’s main objective to ban any product made using forced labour from being placed or made available on the EU market, or exported from the EU.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy and Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, expressed his views on the matter, stating, “It is appalling that in the 21st century slavery and forced labour still exist in the world. This hideous crime must be eradicated and the first step to achieve this consists in breaking the business model of companies that exploit workers. With this regulation we want to make sure that there is no place for their products on our single market, whether they are manufactured in Europe or abroad.”
Database of Forced Labour Risk Areas and Products
To facilitate the implementation of this regulation, the Commission will establish a database containing verifiable and regularly updated information about forced labour risks. This includes reports from international organisations such as the International Labour Organization. The database will support the work of the Commission and national competent authorities in assessing possible violations of this regulation.
Risk-Based Approach
The provisional agreement sets clear criteria for the Commission and national competent authorities when assessing the likelihood of violations of this regulation. These criteria include the scale and severity of the suspected forced labour, the quantity or volume of products placed or made available on the Union market, the share of the parts of the product likely to be made with forced labour in the final product, and the proximity of economic operators to the suspect forced labour risks in their supply chain as well as their leverage to address them.
The Commission will issue guidelines for economic operators and competent authorities to help them comply with the requirements of this regulation. These guidelines will include best practices for ending and remediating different types of forced labour. Accompanying measures for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will also be included, which can be accessed through the Forced Labour Single Portal.
Leading the Investigations
The agreement lays down the criteria to determine which authority should lead the investigations. The Commission will lead investigations outside the EU territory. If the risks are within the territory of a member state, the competent authority of that member state will lead the investigations. If new information about the suspected forced labour is found during the assessment of the likelihood of violations of this regulation, the competent authority of other member states must be informed, provided that the suspected forced labour is taking place in the territory of that member state. Similarly, the Commission must be informed if the suspected forced labour is occurring outside the EU.
The deal ensures that economic operators can be heard at all stages of the investigation, as appropriate. It also ensures that other relevant information will also be taken into account.
