On September 15, 2021, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her annual State of the European Union speech announced that the European Commission will propose a ban on products made with forced labour, stating that “There are 25 million people out there, who are threatened or coerced into forced labour. We can never accept that they are forced to make product and that these products then end up for sale in shops here in Europe”.
This announcement precedes the publication of the European Commission’s Directive on human rights and environmental due diligence proposal expected this fall.
Go beyond merely blocking goods at the border
For the import ban to be human rights-centred, the European Commission should create a mechanism that goes beyond merely blocking goods from entering the Union.
First, the ban should be designed as a complementary instrument to the forthcoming human rights and environmental due diligence obligations on companies.
Second, the aim of the act should not be limited to the prohibition of certain goods, but rather should be the prevention and mitigation of human rights abuses and the remediation of victims. Stakeholders should be consulted to determine the most appropriate measures to take, and the easing of import restrictions should be conditioned to the remediation of victims.
Third, companies should be required to map and disclose their subsidiaries, suppliers, and business relationships to monitor the respect for human rights in their supply chain.
Lastly, to ensure transparency and accountability, the list of sanctioned entities, regions and products should be made public.
Incorporation of these elements would lead to the creation of an instrument that would overcome some pitfalls identified in the import ban in forced in the US and Canada.