Banning Products Made with State-Imposed Forced Labor from Entering the European Union
State-imposed forced labor is pervasive in EU supply chains. In Turkmenistan and in the Uyghur Region, governments use systematic forced labor to produce cotton and cotton products. Other products, including solar panels and automobiles, are also produced with inputs made with state-sponsored forced labor in the Uyghur Region. Through direct trade routes or through suppliers in third countries, these products enter the EU.
To ensure that imports and sales of products made with state-imposed forced labor are banned across all EU Member States, we need a strong EU Forced Labor Regulation. This would create a level playing field and complement similar trade and due diligence legislation in other jurisdictions.
On October 24, 2023, the Cotton Campaign and the Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labor held a joint event in Brussels to address the issue of state-imposed forced labor. We highlighted Turkmenistan and the Uyghur Region as emblematic cases of state-imposed forced labor, provided insights on the experiences of impacted communities, and provided recommendations to strengthen the proposal for the EU Forced Labor Regulation to adequately address contexts of state-imposed forced labor.
Opening remarks: Sian Lea, Anti-Slavery International
Panelists:
Babur Ilchi, Uyghur Human Rights Project
Arslan Hidayat, Campaign for Uyghurs
Ruslan Myatiev, Turkmen News
Farid Tukhbatullin, Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights
Patricia Carrier, Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region
Jewher Ilham, Workers Rights Consortium
Raluca Dumitrescu, Cotton Campaign
Panels chaired by: Charlotte Tate, Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region, and Allison Gill, Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF)
Key note: Helene de Rengerve, Anti-Slavery International: Strengthening the Forced Labor Regulation
Closing remarks: Member of the European Parliament, Maria-Manuel Leitao Marques (Socialists & Democrats)
Recommendations for the EU Forced Labor Regulation
In order for the Forced Labor Regulation to meaningfully address state-imposed forced labor, it must:
Include a rebuttable presumption of forced labor on specific product groups (e.g., all cotton, all polysilicon, or all tomatoes) from specified countries or regions (specifically the Uyghur Region and Turkmenistan) that would lead to a presumptive ban of imports and sales of these specific product groups on the EU market. In cases where the rebuttable presumption applies, the economic operators then bear the burden of establishing that state-imposed forced labor has not been used at any stage of extraction, harvest, production, or manufacturing of a product, including working or processing related to the product.
Lower the evidentiary threshold to initiate all investigations and to take a decision. We recommend not to create any evidence threshold to initiate the full investigation (art. 5) beyond an assessment of the validity of the claim and to trigger an additional type of decision:
a) a decision to block entry into the EU market/forbid the placing on the market/export of goods made with forced labor in the EU when a “reasonable but not conclusive” standard that the goods were made with forced labor is found; in the case of state-imposed forced labor, the burden of proof would then shift to the economic operator; and
b) a final decision, which then allows authorities to seize the goods, as currently foreseen in the European Commission proposal, when a company cannot disprove the presence of state-imposed forced labor in its supply chain or when conclusive evidence is established in cases of forced labor in private supply chains.
These changes would facilitate the implementation of the legislation, increase its impact, and align it with other countries’ standards, for the sake of both companies and authorities. In addition, this would ensure that all products subject to a rebuttable presumption of state-imposed forced labor would not be allowed to enter the EU market, thus protecting the EU consumers.
Designate the European Commission also as a competent authority, to conduct politically sensitive investigations, such as those linked to state-imposed forced labor, or to contribute to the investigation process, in particular when investigations in third countries are required.
