Anti-Slavery International and European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights’ position on import controls to address forced labour in supply chains
Following the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, we, together with the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, have published a position paper on when and how governments should introduce import controls to end forced labour. Import controls should not be the only measure used to address forced labour in global supply chains. Instead, they should be introduced as part of strong legal, trade and development framework to address the root causes of forced labour – poverty, lack of legal protection, worker representation and discrimination. In particular, we have worked for many years to call for the introduction of stronger laws such as mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD), and we believe that the two approaches – mHREDD and import controls – are complementary. Although specifically concerned with developments in the EU, this position paper is applicable to all governments.