Vote and press conference: Banning products made with forced labour in the EU

On Monday at 19.00-19.30, Parliament’s Internal Market Committee (IMCO) and International Trade Committee (INTA) will vote on their joint draft report on a new regulation that aims to stop forced labour along companies’ supply chains.

On Tuesday at 14.30, co-rapporteurs Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques (S&D, PT, IMCO) and Samira Rafaela (Renew, NL, INTA) will reply to questions from the media on Parliament’s proposal and the next steps of the procedure.

The regulation will put in place a framework to investigate the use of forced labour in the supply chains of companies. If the use of forced labour is proven, all import and export of the related goods would be halted at the EU borders. Companies would also have to withdraw goods that have already reached the EU market. These would then be donated, recycled or destroyed. As an important addition to the initial Commission proposal, the co-rapporteurs want the EU to draw up a list of high-risk geographical areas and economic sectors. In the case of goods from these high-risk sectors, the authorities would then no longer have to prove that forced labour has been used. Instead, the burden would fall on companies to prove that they have not resorted to forced labour.

Vote: Monday, 16 October at 19.00 CEST, WEISS building room N1.3, Strasbourg

Press conference: Tuesday, 17 October at 14.30 CEST, Daphne Caruana Galizia Press Room, Strasbourg

Webstream link for the vote: https://tinyurl.com/bdexfv8h

Webstream link for the press conference: https://tinyurl.com/4dax7u8t