This submission was drafted by Dr Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga, an expert in modern slavery in business supply chains at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, part of the British institute for International and Comparative Law (BIICL), with input from the core Modern Slavery PEC team. It builds on the desk-based research on the effectiveness of forced labour import bans in addressing modern slavery undertaken by Dr Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga. Therefore, this submission does not necessarily represent the views of all partners making up the Modern Slavery PEC consortium. This submission focuses exclusively on questions 18 and 19 of the Committee’s Call for Evidence.
Summary
Question 18. Are there particular elements of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of 2021 in the USA that would be appropriate for consideration within a British Act? Please explain why you think such measures would be beneficial.
While there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA), there are elements in it that would potentially be appropriate for consideration in the UK such as i) a rebuttable presumption of forced labour for state-imposed forced labour, ii) a risk-based approach to enforcement through an Entity List and a list of high-risk sectors for enforcement.
However, we identify five weaknesses:
- it allows importers to re-export the banned goods,
- the rebuttable presumption does not apply to online sales or shipments under $800 USD,
- the UFLPA Entity List does not list lead firms based in the Global North,
- the UFLPA expanded existing sanctions that have resulted in counter-measures from China,
- it does not cover the full value chain.
Question 19. EU Member States have agreed two instruments to prevent the sale of goods linked to forced labour in the EU. Firstly the ‘Prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market’ and secondly the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Are there elements of either the regulation or the directive that would be appropriate for consideration in the UK? Please explain why you think such measures would be beneficial.
We respond to this question by focusing on the EU’s Regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union Market. While this regulation is not yet fully applicable until 2027, there are elements in it that would be appropriate for consideration in the UK such as:
- a prohibition to export products made with forced labour,
- applicability of the prohibition to online sales
- a requirement to coordinate with relevant authorities in third countries with similar instruments,
- the use of a publicly available risk database to identify forced labour risks.
However, we identify six weaknesses:
- it does not require remediation as a condition for lifting a ban,
- it does not require engagement with workers and people with lived experience before or after issuing a ban,
- the prohibition does not apply to the whole value chain,
- the burden of proof lies on the authorities
- it does not enable authorities to issue a presumption of forced labour
- it was not developed following an impact assessment or in consultation with people with lived experience.
