Effective import controls and international cooperation across can make a dent in forced labour in global supply chains. If properly designed, import controls can be an effective tool to address forced labour in global value chains and provide remedies for victims and survivors.
Where in the world are we seeing moves towards import bans? Learn more in our latest blog from the UK and European Advocacy team.
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The International Labour Organization estimates that almost twenty-eight million people worldwide are in situations of forced labour. Nearly eighteen million are within the private sector, trapped through debt bondage, threats, withheld wages, or state-imposed forced labour programmes.
Governments around the world are increasingly exploring and adopting legislation to tackle forced labour in global supply chains. After decades of introducing forced labour provisions in trade agreements with other countries, laws and regulations that ban the import of products made with forced labour are becoming the instrument of choice.
Instead of looking at overall progress in eliminating modern slavery within countries, the expectation is shifting towards companies and the way that products are farmed, mined, processed and manufactured.
If properly designed, import controls can potentially be an effective tool for addressing forced labour in global value chains and providing remedies for victims and survivors.
The United States and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
At the forefront of forced labour import ban laws is the United States. Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the importation of goods made wholly or in part with forced labour.
Initially, the law was rarely enforced because of the so-called “consumptive demand” loophole. This meant that, if goods produced within the country could not meet the demand for it, then goods made with forced labour would be allowed to enter the country. For nearly eight decades, this was used to justify importing everyday items like cocoa, shrimp, and cotton made under abusive conditions, until it was repealed in 2016.
Since then, the U.S. Government has increasingly issued Withhold Release Orders and Findings to hold goods produced with forced labour at any port of entry, such as textiles from Mauritius, diamonds from Zimbabwe, rubber gloves from Malaysia and coffee from Mexico.
In 2017, the US established a presumption that all products made by North Korean nationals are made with forced labour. In June 2022, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) entered into force, and added a presumption that any goods mined, produced, or manufactured-wholly or in part-in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Uyghur Region), are made with forced labour, and are prohibited from entering the United States. The UFLPA places the burden of proof onto importers, who can challenge this presumption and provide clear and convincing evidence that their imports from the region or made by companies on the Entity List are free from forced labour links. To date, no company has successfully done so.
New technologies such as Isotopic testing, together with increased enforcement have led to tangible changes, such as the restructuring of solar supply chains to exclude Chinese polysilicon.
The UFLPA Entity List includes nearly 150 entities identified as participating in state-sponsored labour transfer schemes in the Uyghur Region, or sourcing from entities implicated in forced labour in the Uyghur Region.
The law affects a wide range of industries, including cotton and textiles (the Uyghur Region produces 20% of the world’s cotton), solar panels and polysilicon, aluminium, tomatoes and agricultural goods, electronics and minerals. Since its enactment, U.S. Customs authorities have already detained tens of thousands of shipments worth billions of dollars.
Europe is following a similar path
The European Union has also moved to ban products linked to forced labour. The EU Forced Labour Regulation (FLR), which entered into force in December 2024 and will fully apply from December 2027, bans products made with forced labour from being imported, exported, or placed on the EU market.
The European Commission is leading on its implementation, and enforcement is shared between the Commission and Member State Competent Authorities, depending on where the forced labour takes place. The European Commission will also issue guidelines and a forced labour risk database by June 2026.
The EU approach differs from the U.S. model as the EU FLR is both an import and market-surveillance regime that applies globally and prohibits specific products from specific supply chains made with forced labour from being placed on or exported from the EU market. The EU Competent Authorities investigate whether goods are made with forced labour, and carry the burden of proof. The Commission will also launch a forced labour risk database to help guide enforcement.
In contrast, the U.S. Tariff Act is an import-focused section of US Customs Law. The equivalent forced labour risk database is maintained by the US Department of Labor, which is not directly linked to enforcement. The general customs law deals with individual facilities, including ships, but has also previously issued region-wide decisions on Turkmen cotton, tobacco from Malawi, diamonds from Zimbabwe, Artisanal gold from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uygur tomatoes and cotton due to systemic state-imposed forced labour.
Learn more about the EU Forced Labour Regulation
This essential analysis explains the provisions of the final text and outlines what needs to be done for implementation. It aims to help civil society organisations and allies active in the sector to advocate for the effective implementation of the Regulation and support enforcement of the ban of forced labour goods.
Canada and Mexico
Under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the US required Canada and Mexico to also prohibit the importation of goods produced in whole or in part by forced labour.
In Canada, the prohibition came into force in July 2020, and in 2024, Mexico amended its Customs Law to meet this obligation. More recently, the Mexican government expanded the Secretariat of Labour’s investigative powers and clarified procedures.
But, transparency and enforcement remain limited in both countries. Since 2021, the Canada Border Services Agency has detained roughly 50 shipments suspected of forced labour and only one of which was denied entry after review. In Mexico, no public documentation on actions or detained shipments is available.
Developments in other parts of the world
Recently, the US has launched a trade investigation into the instruments and their effectiveness in banning forced labour. The U.S. investigation is likely to add to growing international momentum for stronger action to prevent goods made with forced labour from entering global markets.
The US has also included a binding commitment to block products made with forced labour in recent trade agreements with Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Ecuador, Indonesia and Pakistan have already enacted such import controls, but with no real institutional arrangements for enforcement. Other countries, such as Brazil, Australia and Japan, are considering similar legislation.
The EU also requires the countries in the European Economic Area, namely Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, to pass laws in line with the EU Regulation.
The UK – missing in action
While governments across North America, Europe and the rest of the world are increasingly willing to use trade restrictions to address forced labour, one country is notably lagging behind. Despite its repeated commitments to fighting modern slavery, the United Kingdom only prohibits the National Health Service and Great British Energy (GBE), a publicly owned energy company, from sourcing products made with forced labour. However, initial investments into solar projects by GBE indicate weak enforcement of this commitment. In recent months, various parliamentary committees have recommended the introduction of import controls in the United Kingdom, but the Government has not yet acted on these recommendations.
Without a comprehensive and effectively enforced import ban, the United Kingdom risks continuing to be a dumping ground for products made with forced labour, which are increasingly excluded from other major markets.
Moving Forward
Import bans are a valuable tool for addressing forced labour in global supply chains, and if carefully crafted, can help provide remedy for victims and survivors. However, their effectiveness depends on several factors, including thoughtful design, adequate resources and genuine stakeholder engagement.
At Anti-Slavery International, we call on governments to ensure that these instruments:
- Align with the ILO definition of forced labour.
- Include an obligation for companies to remediate survivors who experienced forced labour in their value chains
- Ensure enforcement is not limited to product-by-product decisions, but can cover a specific sector and/or a specific region in cases of systemic forced labour, e.g. the context of state-imposed forced labour,
- Mandate adequate staffing, resources and investigative powers to enforcement authorities who are carrying out investigations and issuing enforcement decisions.
- Ensure adequate staffing, traceability capabilities and powers to detain and seize products to authorities implementing enforcement decisions.
- Ensure the creation of an open, accessible mechanism to file allegations with confidentiality protections for complainants.
- Ensure regular meaningful engagement between enforcement authorities and stakeholders such as civil society, affected workers and trade unions .
- Include public disclosure of customs data to empower those filing petitions.
- Enable international regulatory cooperation between enforcement authorities from different jurisdictions. This should include countries investigating their exposure to products which may be diverted following enforcement decisions in another jurisdiction.
Why the UK must introduce import bans
Introducing import control legislation would stop companies profiting from forced labour in their value chains, help victims of forced labour access swift remedy, and ensure the UK keeps pace with developments worldwide.