“New EU Law Should Catalyze Business Efforts to Tackle Forced Labor”

The entry into force in December 2024 of the European Union’s new Forced Labor Product Ban Regulation (FLR) marked a step forward in the fight against forced labor in Europe and around the world. …

… Known products linked to forced labor concerns tomatoes, cotton, meatpacking, garment, cars, and many more…

… The responsibility for implementing the EU’s new ban is shared between the European Commission and member states. When forced labor is used inside the EU, member states will conduct the investigation while when forced labor occurs outside the EU, the European Commission is then responsible for it…

Reinstating a banned product requires a company to demonstrate that their entire product supply chain is free from forced labor. If the company also falls under the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the company might also face action from regulators, or even civil liability, for failing to conduct adequate due diligence to address the risk of forced labor in its supply chain.

The CSDDD is, however, now under attack…

The forced labor regulation itself is not without weaknesses. ..