Products of forced labor found within the EU will be donated or recycled

The European Union wants further crackdowns on products made from forced labor, which are produced in other parts of the world, secretly imported into the region, and often sold at more than competitive prices on the market. The European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee and International Trade Committee yesterday adopted a draft regulation establishing a stricter framework for investigating the use of forced labor in EU companies’ supply chains.

“Forced labor is a serious human rights violation. The ban we passed goes a long way to stopping products manufactured using modern slavery and removing the economic incentive for companies to use forced labor. It’s important. It protects whistleblowers, it provides redress for victims, it protects our businesses and small businesses from unethical competition,” the document says. Dutch liberal Samira Rafaela, the rapporteur, declared.

According to the document, if it is proven that a company has used forced labor, all imports and exports of related products will be blocked at EU borders, and the company will also have to recall products that have already reached our market. . These products are donated, recycled, or thrown away. MEPs have urged the Commission to reverse the burden of proof in high-risk cases from the Commission’s proposal to draw up a list of geographical regions and economic sectors where the use of forced labor by some companies is more common. imposed on the society. For goods produced in these high-risk areas, the burden of proof will be placed on companies, so authorities will no longer have to prove that people were forced into forced labor.

Both Congressional committees also require that the company reintroduce products that have been removed from the market only after demonstrating that it has ceased the use of forced labor in its operations and supply chain and has cured all related litigation. ing. MEP has since updated and expanded the definitions used in the text. In particular, the definition of forced labor is now in line with International Labor Organization standards and includes “any work or service required of a person under threat of sanctions for which he has not volunteered.” It turns out. availability”.

“27.6 million workers around the world are subjected to forced labor, a form of modern-day slavery. We should dedicate this victory to them. “The damage suffered was compensated,” said another of the document’s reporters, a Portuguese socialist. Maria-Manuel Leighton-Marquez declared.

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