EU Parliament votes on forced labor ban with eye on China

EU lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban products made using forced labor, which supporters hope will be used to stop goods coming from China, escalating tensions with Beijing. There is danger.

The law does not mention China directly, but many lawmakers expect it to be used to block Chinese imports from the region where the Uyghur Muslim minority lives. Human rights groups say at least one million people, mostly from the Muslim minority, have been detained in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region and face abuses, including forced sterilization of women and forced labour. Used to be.

The legislation, supported by 555 EU MPs, with six opposed and 45 abstaining, will become law after final approval by the EU’s 27 member states. The EU has deployed a range of trade tools against China, including anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese state support for green technology such as solar panels.

The latest legislation seeks to eliminate forced labor from European markets. Under the rules, EU states can remove products made using forced labour, as well as goods made in a block containing materials made abroad using forced labour.

“This regulation is unprecedented and it is unique. It is inclusive, comprehensive and with many other rules and directives… (it is) a real game changer,” said Dutch MP Samira Rafaela, who pushed the text through parliament.

“Companies, industries, entire sectors and their respective contractors will need to make serious efforts to ensure that their conduct is sustainable and ethical, respecting human rights throughout their supply chains,” he told reporters after the vote. According to the International Labor Organization, about 27.6 million people were engaged in forced labor in 2021, including about 3.3 million children.

– Power to confiscate goods –

The new rules give the European Commission the power to launch investigations if there are suspicions about supply chains in countries outside the EU. If the use of forced labor is proven, authorities will seize the products at borders and order their return from European markets and online retailers.

If the risk is in a Member State, the local authority in that country will investigate products allegedly made using forced labour. For some goods deemed at risk, importers will be forced to provide detailed information on manufacturers.

The EU will also create a regularly updated database on forced labor risks that will include international reports to assist the Commission and national bodies in assessing potential violations of the law. Critics have pointed out that this law is not equivalent to the law adopted by Washington.

The United States banned imports of products from Xinjiang in 2021 unless businesses can prove their production does not involve forced labor. Maria Manuel Leitao Marques, another EU lawmaker who led the legislation through parliament, pointed to concerns about products made by Uighurs in Europe.

“It may be that what you are using or consuming today, like cotton, may not be coming from Turkmenistan, but from China, where Uyghurs are being forced to work, where they are forced to They are victims of labour,” he said during this time. A debate on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)