EU: Parliament gives final approval to forced labour ban

On 23 April 2024, the European Parliament formally adopted a new Regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour on the EU market, usually referred to as the “Forced Labour Regulation” (see press release).

The new Regulation will prohibit placing and making available on the EU market, or exporting from the EU market, products made with forced labour. The ban on products made with forced labour will have a far-reaching scope of application, as it will apply to: (i) all products; (ii) made in whole or in part with forced labour; and (iii) across all sectors (irrespective of the provenance of the goods, including those made within the EU). While this new Regulation does not aim to impose additional reporting or due diligence requirements in addition to the ban, economic operators will still need to conduct a thorough assessment of their supply chains to identify potential violations of the Regulation. 

Next steps: The Regulation now needs to be formally approved by the Council before it can be published in the Official Journal of the EU. EU member states will then have to start applying it in three years. 

For more information on this Regulation, see our previous blog posts here and here. 

We will cover the Regulation in more detail once it has been published in the Official Journal.