Trade Prohibitions on Forced-Labour Products: A First Assessment of the Forthcoming EU’s Forced Labour Regulation
摘要
The continued existence of forced labour worldwide, on the one hand, and the risk for the Union market becoming the destination of products made with forced labour, on the other, illustrates the need for further EU measures (in addition to those focused on company behavior) to curb this practice. This chapter analyses the legislative process of a new EU Regulation finalised to prohibit the placing and making available on the Union market or exporting from the Union market products made with forced labour. Particularly, it discusses—first—the Commission’s Regulation proposal (adopted in September 2022) and the most significant amendments to it as included in the European Parliament’s negotiating position (of November 2023) and in the Council of Ministers’ negotiating mandate (of January 2024). Second, it examines the (final) text adopted by the European Parliament in April 2024 (on which is pending the formal Council approval expected in the second half of 2024). The chapter also analyses whether the new EU (unilateral) trade instrument addressing forced labour is WTO-compatible.