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EU Forced Labour Regulation

Even in the 21st century, modern slavery and forced labour are still wide-spread global phenomena. In 2021, 27.6 million people were engaged in forced labour. The number of affected persons thus increased by 2.7 million compared to 2016. On 13 December 2024, the EU Regulation on Prohibiting Products Made with Forced Labour on the Union Market (Directive (EU) 2019/1937, the so-called Forced Labour Regulation) entered into force. As of 14 December 2027, it will prohibit products made with forced labour on the EU internal market. After that date, products made with forced labour may no longer be made available or placed on the Union market or exported. This applies both to products from the EU and from third countries.

According to the Regulation, the EU Commission and the member states’ authorities must provide evidence that a product was made using forced labour. For this, they must conduct investigations at companies using a risk-based approach, i.e. prioritise serious cases and focus on products, industries and companies with a particularly high risk of forced labour. State-imposed forced labour will also be a focus of the investigations. Cases of suspected forced labour can be reported via a single EU portal.

Who is responsible for which investigation?

The EU Commission will conduct investigations about risks located outside the EU. Risks located in the territory of an EU member state will be investigated by that state’s competent authority. If, while assessing the likelihood of violations of the Regulation, a public authority finds new information about suspected forced labour in another EU member state, it must notify the competent authority of that member state. If there are suspicions of forced labour outside the EU, it needs to inform the Commission.
The public authority that conducted the investigation decides on whether a product made with forced labour should be prohibited, withdrawn from the market or disposed of. If this is an authority of an EU member state, the decision then applies in all other EU member states according to the principle of mutual recognition.

In order to implement the Regulation in Germany, a so-called accompanying law is necessary. It will specify, among other things, the public authority responsible for investigations in Germany and its powers. The German Federal Government is going to prepare a corresponding draft law.

Database and support for businesses

To help the EU Commission and national public authorities assess possible violations of the Regulation, the EU Commission will set up a database with verifiable and up-to-date information on forced labour risks. It will also include reports from international organisations (such as the International Labour Organization) and provide guidance to businesses.

Moreover, there are plans for further support measures for businesses. The EU Commission is preparing guidelines for the implementation of the Regulation with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In these guidelines, it will point out best practices to stop and eliminate different kinds of forced labour and provide accompanying measures for micro-enterprises and SMEs.

Other important points

  • Products of critical importance which were made using forced labour are a special case. These products do not necessarily have to be disposed of or destroyed. Instead, the competent authority may instruct the economic operator to withhold the product until they can prove that forced labour has been eliminated.
  • Moreover, a destruction of entire products is not necessary if (only) exchangeable components were made with forced labour. In these cases, only the part affected by forced labour must be disposed of.