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The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached yesterday evening between the European Parliament and the Council on the regulation banning products resulting from forced labor from the Union market. The fight against forced labor is a political priority for the Commission, as the President underlined von der Leyen in his 2021 State of the Union Address.
The adopted text follows the proposal of the Commission of September 14, 2022. The new rules will provide the EU with the tools to prohibit access to its market of products manufactured using forced labor.
The main elements of the agreement reached last night are as follows:
– The scope of the regulation covers products manufactured in the EU for domestic consumption and exports, as well as imported products, without targeting specific companies or industries. This is particularly important because it is estimated that around 27.6 million people worldwide are subject to forced labor, across many industries and on every continent.
– The Commission will investigate and take decisions when the risk of forced labor is outside the EU, while Member States will investigate and take decisions when forced labor is found inside the EU.
– The Commission will prepare tools to help economic operators and competent national authorities apply and implement the Regulation.
The political agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council is now subject to the formal approval of the two co-legislators. Once adopted, the new rules will come into force 36 months after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
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