Council of theEuropean Union
Brussels, 13 March 2024
(OR. en)7542/24
Interinstitutional File:2022/0269(COD)MI 277COMPET 292
CONSOM 100
POLCOM 92
ENFOCUSTOM 48
JAI 436
EMPL 106
SOC 193
CODEC 736
UD 48
NOTE
From:
To:

General Secretariat of the Council

No. prev. doc.:

7328/24
12711/22 + COR1

No. Cion doc.:
Subject:

Delegations

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
OF THE COUNCIL on prohibiting products made with forced labour on theUnion market- Letter to the Chair of the European Parliament IMCO and INTA
Committees

Following the Permanent Representatives Committee meeting of 13 March 2024 which endorsed
the final compromise text with a view to agreement, delegations are informed that the Presidency sent
the attached letter, together with its Annex, to the Chair of the European Parliament IMCO and INTA
Committees.

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ENANNEX7542/24
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PE-CONS No/YY - 2022/0269(COD)

REGULATION 2024/...
OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of ...
on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market and amending
Directive (EU) 2019/1937(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114
and Article 207 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee1,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

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OJ C , , p. .

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ENWhereas:(1)

As recognised in the Preamble to the 2014 Protocol to Convention No. 29 on forced labour(‘ILO Convention No. 29’) of the International Labour Organization (‘ILO’), forced labour
constitutes a serious violation of human dignity and fundamental human rights, contributes
to the perpetuation of poverty and stands in the way of the achievement of decent work
for all. The ILO declared the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour as aprinciple concerning the fundamental rights. The ILO classifies ILO Convention No. 29,
including the supplementing the 2014 Protocol to Convention No. 29 and the Forced
Labour (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation No. 203 and the ILO Convention
No.105 on the abolition of forced labour (‘ILO Convention No.105’) as fundamental ILO
Conventions1.2 and issues recommendations to prevent, eliminate, and remedy forced
labour3. The ILO has developed several indicators used to identify and indicate cases offorced labour, such as threats and actual physical and sexual harm, abuse ofvulnerability, abuse of working and living conditions and excessive overtime, deception,
restriction of movement or confinement to the workplace or a limited area, isolation,
debt bondages, withholding wages or excessive wage reduction, retention of passports
and identity documents or threat of denunciation to the authorities when the worker has
an irregular immigration status4. Forced labour is very often linked to poverty anddiscrimination. The manipulation of credit and debt, either by employers or by recruiting
agents, is still a key factor that traps vulnerable workers in forced labour situations5.
According to the ILO supervisory bodies, prison labour, including where it is performed
for private companies, is not in itself constitutive of forced labour provided that it is doneon a voluntary basis, for the benefit of the prisoner and approximates the conditions of afree labour relationship. Community work as an alternative penal sanction to
imprisonment should always be in the public general interest and should, under nocircumstances, be abused by States as means to degrade the convicted person or deprive

2
3
4
5

https://www.ilo.org/global/standards/introduction-to-international-labour-standards/conventions-andrecommendations/lang--en/index.htm.
ILO Forced Labour (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation, 2014.
17b https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--declaration/documents/publication/wcms_203832.pdf
ILO, the Profits and Poverty: The economics of forced labour: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--ed_norm/---declaration/documents/publication/wcms_243391.pdf

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ENthe person of their dignity6. In cases in which work or service is imposed by exploiting
the worker's vulnerability, under the threat of a penalty, such threat does not need totake the form of a penal sanction but might take the form also of a loss of rights or
benefits.
(2)

The use of forced labour is widespread in the world. It is estimated that about 27.6 million
people were in forced labour in 2021. 7 Vulnerable and marginalised groups in a society,such as women, children, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, lower casters,
indigenous and tribal people, migrants, especially if they are undocumented, have aprecarious status and operate in the informal economy, are particularly susceptible to bepressured into performing forced labour. Even when it is not state imposed, forced labour
is often a consequence of the absence or lack of good governance of certain economic
operators and a demonstration of a state’s failure to enforce social and labour rights,
particularly for vulnerable and marginalised groups. Forced labour can also take place
as a result of authorities' tacit consent. The vast majority of forced labour occurs in theprivate sector, in particular through forced labour exploitation (17.3 million people),
which accounts for 86 % of all forced labour cases8. The obligations of economic
operators set out in this Regulation should be predictable and clear in order to ensure
full and effective compliance and contribute to bringing forced labour to an end.

67817e https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_089199.pdf Page 27
The 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--ipec/documents/publication/wcms_854733.pdf.▌
18d The 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--ipec/documents/publication/wcms_854733.pdf

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(3)

The eradication of forced labour in all its forms, including state imposed forced labour, isa priority for the Union. Respect for human dignity and the universality and indivisibilityof human rights are firmly enshrined in Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union. In
order to achieve Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Union should
uphold and promote its values and contribute to the protection of human rights, inparticular the rights of the child. Article 5 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of theEuropean Union explicitly prohibits slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour andtrafficking in human beings and Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights
provide that no one is to be required to perform forced or compulsory labour. The
European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly interpreted Article 4 of the European
Convention on Human Rights as requiring Member States to penalise and effectively
prosecute any act maintaining a person in the situations described set out in Article 4 of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights9. The right to effective remedies for violations offundamental rights is a human right, and a fundamental element in the process ofeffective prosecution of crimes. Existing Union law, the UN Guiding Principles on theBusiness and Human Rights (UNGPs), the Council of Europe and the OECD affirm
that victims have the right to an effective remedy for business-related human rights
violations or abuses, including forced labour.

(4)

All Member States have ratified the fundamental ILO Conventions, namely No29 on
forced labour and No 182 on the worst forms of child labour10. They are therefore legallyobliged to prevent and eliminate the use of forced labour and to report regularly to the ILO.

910

For instance paras. 89 and 102 in Siliadin v. France or para. 105 in Chowdury and Others v. Greece.
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---ilobrussels/documents/publication/wcms_195135.pdf.

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(5)

Through its policies and legislative initiatives the Union seeks to eradicate the use offorced labour and promote decent work and labour rights worldwide. The Union
promotes due diligence in line with international guidelines and principles established byinternational organisations, including the ILO, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (hereinafter “OECD”) and the United Nations (hereinafter“UN”), to ensure that forced labour does not find a place in the supply chains ofundertakings established in the Union.

(6)

Union trade policy supports the fight against forced labour in both unilateral and bilateral
trade relationships. The trade and sustainable development chapters of Union trade
agreements contain a commitment to ratify and effectively implement the fundamental ILO
Conventions, which include ILO Convention No. 29 and ILO Convention No. 105,
whereas trade and gender provisions establish a gender lens that is essential for the
economic empowerment of women in order to combat gendered forced labour.
Moreover, unilateral tariff preferences under the Union’s General Scheme of Preferences
may be withdrawn for serious and systematic violations of ILO Convention No. 29 andILO Convention No. 105.

(7)

Forced labour has a distinct impact on vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as
children, women, migrants, refugees or indigenous peoples, and therefore anintersectional and gender sensitive approach is essential to combat forced labour
effectively. This Regulation is therefore expected to contribute to the objectives of
relevant international agreements and conventions, such as the ILO Convention 182,
Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Womenand Domestic Violence, the Beijing Declaration, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly
and Regular Migration, the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; theUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the ILO
Convention 169.

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(8)

The Anti-trafficking Directive (Directive 2011/36/EU) of the European Parliament and of
the Council11▌ harmonises the definition of trafficking in human beings, including forced
labour or services, and establishes rules on minimum penalties. Any rules laid down
concerning the prohibition of placing and making available on the Union market domestic
or imported products made with forced labour, or exporting such products, and theobligation to ensure that such products are withdrawn from the Union market (‘theprohibition’), should be without prejudice to that Directive, and in particular to thecompetence of law enforcement and judicial authorities to investigate and prosecuteoffences on trafficking in human beings, including labour exploitation.

(9)▌ Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council12 requires
Union importers of minerals or metals falling under the scope of that Regulation to carryout due diligence obligations consistent with Annex II to the OECD Due Diligence
Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and HighRisk Areas, and the due diligence recommendations set out therein. Regulation (EU) No
2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council contains obligations for
economic operators to carry out due diligence in their supply chains, including with respect
to labour rights. 13 Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of theCouncil14 requires due diligence regarding the legal and deforestation free character of
products and commodities within its scope, including with respect to human rights.

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Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing andcombating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision
2002/629/JHA, OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p.1.
Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 laying down
supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold
originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas, OJ L 130, 19.5.2017, p. 1.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023 concerning
batteries and waste batteries, amending Directive 2008/98/EC and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and
repealing Directive 2006/66/EC, OJ L 191, 28.7.2023, p. 1-117.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council on ▌ making available on theUnion market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with
deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, p.
206-247.

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(10)

Article 19a of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council in its
version of 21 November 2021 requires Member States to ensure that certain economic
operators annually publish non-financial statements in which they report on the impact of
their activity on environmental, social and employee matters, respect for human rights,
including regarding forced labour, anti-corruption and bribery matters.15▌ Furthermore,
Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate
Sustainability Reporting amended that requirement by introducing detailed reporting
requirements for covered companies regarding the respect of human rights, including in
global supply chains. The information that undertakings disclose about human rights
should include, where relevant, information about forced labour in their value chains.16▌(11)

As a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Union is committed topromoting a rules-based, open, multilateral trading system. Any measures introduced by
the Union that affect trade should be WTO compliant.

(12)

In July 2021, the Commission and the European External Action Service publishedguidance to assist Union businesses in taking appropriate measures to address the risk offorced labour in their operations and supply chains.17(13)

As recognised in the Commission’s Communication on decent work worldwide18,
notwithstanding the current policies and legislative framework, further action is needed toachieve the objectives of eliminating forced-labour products from the Union market and,hence, further contributing to the fight against forced labour worldwide.

15
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Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large
undertakings and groups, OJ
Directive 20XX/XX/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2013/34/EU,
Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Regulation 2014/537/EU(EU) No 537/2014, as regards
corporate sustainability reporting, OJ XX, XX.XX.20XX, p. XX L 322, 16.12.2022, p. 15.
Guidance on due diligence for EU businesses to address the risk of forced labour in their operations andsupply chains.
Communication 23 March 2022 from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and theEuropean Economic and Social Committee on decent work worldwide for a global just transition and asustainable recovery (COM(2022) 66 final).

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(14)

Promoting decent work and a human-centred future of work ensuring the respect offundamental principles and human rights, promoting social dialogue as well as theratification and effective implementation of relevant ILO conventions and protocols,
strengthening responsible management in global supply chains and access to social
protection are core priorities of the Union as enshrined in the EU Action Plan on
Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024.

(15)

The European Parliament in its resolutions strongly condemned forced labour and called
for a ban on products made with forced labour.19 It is therefore a matter of public moral
concern that products made with forced labour could be available on the Union market or
exported to third countries without an effective mechanism to ban or withdraw suchproducts.

(16)

To complete the Union legislative and policy framework on forced labour, the placing andmaking available on the Union market of products made with forced labour or exporting
domestically produced or imported products made with forced labour should be prohibitedand it should be ensured that those products are withdrawn from the Union market.

(17)

Currently there is no Union legislation that empowers Member States’ authorities todirectly detain, seize, or order the withdrawal of a product on the basis of a finding that it
was made, whether in whole or in part, with forced labour.

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See Resolutions: MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on a new trade instrument to ban products made byforced labour (europa.eu), Texts adopted - Forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region - Thursday, 17 December 2020 (europa.eu), Texts adopted - Forced labour inthe Linglong factory and environmental protests in Serbia - Thursday, 16 December 2021 (europa.eu).

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(18)

In order to ensure the effectiveness of this Regulation, such prohibition should apply to
products for which forced labour has been used at any stage of their production,
manufacture, harvest and extraction, including working or processing related to the
products. The prohibition should apply to all products, of any type, including theircomponents, and should apply to products regardless of the sector, the origin, whether they
are domestic or imported, or placed or made available on the Union market or exported.
This Regulation should not apply to the provision of transport services.

(19)

The prohibition should contribute to the international efforts to abolish forced labour. The
definition of ‘forced labour’ should therefore be aligned with the definition laid down in
ILO Convention No. 29 stating that forced or compulsory labour means all work orservice which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and forwhich the said person has not offered himself voluntarily, with the exclusion of (a) any
work or service exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws for work of a purely
military character; (b) any work or service which forms part of the normal civic
obligations of the citizens of a fully self-governing country; (c) any work or service
exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, provided
that the said work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a publicauthority and that the said person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private
individuals, companies or associations; (d) any work or service exacted in cases of
emergency, that is to say, in the event of war or of a calamity or threatened calamity,such as fire, flood, famine, earthquake, violent epidemic or epizootic diseases, invasion
by animal, insect or vegetable pests, and in general any circumstance that would
endanger the existence or the well-being of the whole or part of the population; (e)minor communal services of a kind which, being performed by the members of thecommunity in the direct interest of the said community, can therefore be considered as
normal civic obligations incumbent upon the members of the community, provided thatthe members of the community or their direct representatives shall have the right to be
consulted in regard to the need for such services. 20

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(20)

Based on the definition of forced labour specified in ILO Convention No. 29 and used inthis Regulation, the ‘ILO Indicators of Forced Labour’ and the ‘Hard to See, Harder toCount’ ILO guidelines represent the most common signs that point to the possible
existence of forced labour and should be taken into account when implementing theregulation. However, these indicators may be insufficient for the identification of forced
labour imposed by state authorities. These practices of forced labour are based on
systemic and global coercive policies that require additional, specifically designed
indicators.

(21)

In the same line, the definition of ‘forced labour imposed by state authorities’ should bealigned with the notion as found in ILO Convention No. 105, which prohibits
specifically the use of forced labour or compulsory labour as a means of political
coercion or education or as punishment for the expression of political views or views
ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system, as a methodof mobilising and using it for the purposes of economic development, as a means oflabour discipline, as a punishment for having participated in strikes, or as a means ofracial, social, national or religious discrimination.21

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What is forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking (Forced labour, modern slavery and humantrafficking) (ilo.org) and the ILO Conventions No. 29 and No. 105 referred therein.

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(22)

Distance selling, including online selling, should also fall within the scope of thisRegulation. In the case of a product offered for sale online or through other means of
distance sales, the product should be considered to be made available on the market if
the offer for sale is targeted at end-users in the Union. In line with the applicable Union
rules on private international law, a case-by-case analysis should be carried out in orderto establish whether an offer is targeted at end-users in the Union. An offer for saleshould be considered to be targeted at end-users in the Union if the relevant economic
operator directs, by any means, its activities to a Member State. For the case-by-caseanalyses, relevant factors, such as the geographical areas to which dispatch is possible,
the languages available, used for the offer or for ordering, means of payment, the use ofcurrency of the Member State or a domain name registered in one of the Member Statesshould be taken into consideration in this regard. In the case of online sales, the merefact that the economic operators’ or the providers of online marketplaces’ interface isaccessible in the Member State in which the end-users is established or domiciled isinsufficient. The fact that products offered for sale online or through other means of
distance sales are deemed to be made available on the Union market if the offer for saleis targeted at end-users in the Union empowers competent authorities to check and takethe necessary actions in relation to such products pursuant to this Regulation, eventhough they are not yet actually placed on the market at the moment of the offer for sale
online or through other means of distance sales. Such products must comply with therelevant EU legislation in force at the moment when they are actually placed on themarket and, in the case of products entering the Union, when they are placed under thecustoms procedure ‘release for free circulation’. The fact that the product offered forsale online or through other means of distance sales are deemed to be made available on
the market if the offer for sale is targeted at end-users in the Union should be without
prejudice to rules regarding products entering or leaving the Union market.

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(23)

Intermediary services, in particular online marketplaces have become increasingly used
for the sale of products. In this regard, any information related to the sale of products
contravening the prohibition established in this Regulation should be considered illegal
content within the meaning of article 3(h) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for
Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) and should
be subject to the obligations and measures under that Regulation.

(24)

The Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States should ▌ identify
violations of the prohibition. In appointing those competent authorities, Member Statesshould ensure that those authorities have sufficient human and financial resources andthat their staff has the necessary competences and knowledge, especially with regard tohuman rights, labour rights, gender equality, supply chain management and due diligenceprocesses. Competent authorities should closely coordinate with national labour
inspections and judicial and law enforcement authorities, including those responsible forthe fight against trafficking in human beings in such a way as to avoid jeopardising
investigations by such authorities.

(25)

In order to ensure the effective implementation of its tasks under the Regulation, inparticular to carry out investigations, the Commission has the possibility to request theassistance of other Union bodies, offices or agencies with an appropriate mandate.
These tasks could include: processing submissions of information, supporting theallocation of investigations, conducting the preliminary investigations andinvestigations, facilitating cooperation with and among authorities of Member States,
facilitating international cooperation, supporting the development of support tools and,if appropriate, supporting implementation by customs and supporting the Commission in
preparing decisions to ban products. This is without prejudice to the Commission’s task
in its role as competent authority to take the decisions to prohibit the placing on themarket of products in cases. The Commission in its role as competent authority exercises
its powers impartially, transparently and with due respect for obligations of professionalsecrecy and should have the necessary expertise. The Commission should have themeans to finance the necessary staff and related costs to carry out the tasks entrusted toit under the Regulation and build the required expertise.

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(26)

Competent authorities and the Commission should be guided by the principle ofproportionality when implementing this Regulation. Competent authorities ▌ and theCommission ▌ should ensure, in particular, that all the measures and actions carried out
during the preliminary investigation and the investigation and set out in the decision aresuitable and necessary to achieve the desired purpose and do not impose a burden on
economic operators that is excessive in relation to the objective sought.

(27)

In order to ensure cooperation among the Commission and competent authorities
designated under this and other relevant legislation and in order to ensure consistency intheir actions and decisions, competent authorities designated under this Regulation should
request information from other relevant authorities, where necessary, on whether economic
operators under assessment are subject to and carry out due diligence in relation to forced
labour in accordance with applicable Union legislation or Member States legislation settingout due diligence and transparency requirements with respect to forced labour. Whenrequesting information from economic operators, competent authorities should
whenever possible follow the Commission’s once-only principle, through increased
cooperation and dialogue between authorities who are engaged in overseeing productregulation. For the same purposes, and where appropriate, competent authorities
designated under this Regulation should inform other relevant authorities, such as
Market Surveillance authorities, of their actions and decisions.

(28)

A uniform enforcement of the prohibition as regards products entering or leaving theUnion market can only be achieved through systematic exchange of information andcooperation amongst competent authorities, customs authorities and the Commission. This
cooperation should be supported by the Commission.

(29)

For the collection, processing and storage of information, in a structured form, on issues
relating to the investigations, decision-making process, and enforcement of theprohibition, the competent authorities should use ICSMS. The Commission, competentauthorities and customs authorities should have access to that system to carry out theirrespective duties under this Regulation. It is also possible for competent authorities to use
other existing communication systems with other authorities within their own Member
State, as long as this does not affect the obligation of using ICSMS for the purposes of
implementing and enforcing this Regulation.

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(30)

In order to optimise and unburden the control process of products entering or leaving theUnion market, it is necessary to allow for an automated data transfer between the ICSMS
and customs systems. Three different data transfers should be distinguished in view of theirrespective purposes. Firstly, decisions establishing a violation of the prohibition should becommunicated from the ICSMS to the Electronic Customs Risk Management System(CRMS) referred to in Article 36 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU)2015/244722, without prejudice to any future evolution of the customs risk management
environment, for use by customs authorities to identify products that may correspond tosuch a decision. The available interfaces of the customs environment should be used for
those first data transfers. Secondly, where customs authorities identify such a product, casemanagement will be necessary to, among others, transfer the notification of the suspension,
the conclusion of competent authorities and the outcome of the actions taken by customs.
The EU Single Window Environment for customs should support those second datatransfers between ICSMS and national customs systems. Thirdly, customs systems contain
information on products entering and leaving the Union market that would be relevant forcompetent authorities to carry out their duties but that is not accessible to them. The
relevant information should therefore be extracted and transmitted to the ICSMS. The threeinterconnections should be highly automated and easy-to-use, so as to limit any additionalburden for customs authorities. The Commission should be empowered to adopt, incooperation with customs authorities and competent authorities, the implementing acts
necessary to determine the procedural rules, practical arrangements and data elements to betransferred between the ICSMS and customs systems and any other ancillary requirement.

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Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for
implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of theCouncil laying down the Union Customs Code, OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 558.

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(31)

The Commission should establish an indicative and non-exhaustive database of forced
labour risks to support the work of competent authorities in assessing possible violationsof the prohibition and help economic operators identify possible forced labour risks intheir supply chains. The Commission may resort to external expertise to develop the
database. The database should identify forced labour risks in specific geographic areas
or with respect to specific products or product groups, with special focus on widespreadand severe forced labour risks, based on reliable and verifiable information frominternational, institutions, such as the International Labour Organisation and theUnited Nations Organisation, and research or academic institutions. The databaseshould be made publicly available through the Forced Labour Single Portal. Where
there is reliable and verifiable evidence that products produced by specific economic
sectors in specific geographic areas present a high risk of having been made with forced
labour imposed by state authorities, those sectors in those areas should be identified in
the database established under this Regulation.

(32)

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (’SMEs’) can have limited resources andability to ensure that the products they place or make available on the Union market are
free from forced labour. The Commission should therefore issue guidelines on due
diligence in relation to forced labour, which should take into account also the size andeconomic resources of economic operators. In addition, the Commission should issue
guidelines on forced-labour risk indicators, including how to identify them, which should
be based on independent and verifiable information, including reports frominternational organisations, in particular the International Labour Organization.

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(33)

The Commission should also prevent unnecessary administrative burdens on SMEs. In
addition, the Commission should develop accompanying measures to support the effortsof economic operators and their business partners in the same supply chain, inparticular the SMEs. Existing business and human rights helpdesks or due diligence
contact points may be appointed as contact points for the purposes of this Regulation.
SMEs should be able to contact the competent authority of the Member State in which
they are established, using the information provided in the Forced Labour Single Portal.
They should in particular be able to discuss with a competent authority to support themthroughout the course of an investigation. Sufficient support resources should also bemade available online in a clear and understandable way for SMEs.

(34)

The Commission should also issue guidelines on how to engage in dialogue withcompetent authorities ▌in order to help economic operators, and in particular SMEs, aswell as other stakeholders, to comply with the requirements of the prohibition.
Furthermore, the Commission should also issue guidelines to assist any person or
association in submitting information.

(35)

Taking into account the variety of Union law dealing with forced labour issues, theCommission should provide additional guidance for economic operators, in particular
SMEs, on how to apply the different obligations stemming from Union law.

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(36)

The Commission should issue guidelines in order to facilitate the implementation of theRegulation by economic operators and competent authorities. Guidelines for economic
operators should include guidance on due diligence in relation to forced labour, including
for different types of suppliers and sectors of activity, on best practices for bringing to an
end and remediating forced labour and on responsible disengagement. Remediation isunderstood to be the restitution of the affected person or persons or communities to asituation equivalent or as close as possible to the situation they would be in had forced
labour not occurred, proportionate to the company’s implication in the forced labour,
including financial or non-financial compensation provided by the company to a person
or persons affected by forced labour and, where applicable, reimbursement of the costs
incurred by public authorities for any necessary remedial measures. Guidance forcompetent authorities should focus on information relevant for the practicalimplementation of the Regulation. The guidance on due diligence in relation to forced
labour should build on the Guidance on due diligence for Union businesses to address therisk of forced labour in their operations and supply chains published by the Commission
and the European External Action Service in July 2021. The guidelines should beconsistent with other Commission guidelines in this regard and relevant internationalorganisations’ guidelines. The guidelines should be developed in consultation with
relevant stakeholders and rely on experience and best practices from relevant Member
State authorities. The reports from international organisations, in particular the ILO, aswell as other independent and verifiable sources of information should be considered forthe identification of risk indicators.

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(37)

Since forced labour is a global problem and given the interlinkages of the global supply
chains, it is necessary to promote international cooperation against forced labour, which
would also improve the efficiency of applying and enforcing the Regulation. The
Commission should, as appropriate, cooperate ▌ and exchange information withauthorities of third countries, international organisations and other relevant stakeholders
to enhance the effective implementation of the Regulation. International cooperation withauthorities of non-EU countries, including with countries with similar legislation inplace, should take place in a structured way as part of the existing dialogue structures withthose countries, or, if necessary, specific ones that will be created on an ad hoc basis. This
cooperation may include exchanges of information on forced labour risks, such as those
identified in the database, and on decisions to ban products but should not include
information on ongoing investigations. Diplomatic representations of the Union should
contribute to disseminating information about this Regulation and to facilitate thesubmission of information on forced labour risks by relevant stakeholders. International
cooperation may also include the development of cooperation initiatives andaccompanying measures to support relevant stakeholders in their efforts to root out
forced labour from global supply chains, as well as the creation of enabling
environments in third countries to promote and protect human rights.

▌

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(38)

Any person, whether it is a natural or legal person, or any association not having legal
personality, should be allowed to submit information to the competent authorities when it
considers that products made with forced labour are placed and made available on theUnion market and to be informed of the outcome of the assessment of their submission.
Submissions of information on alleged violations should be made via a single
information submission point set up by the Commission and made available on theForced Labour Single Portal. In order to ensure the ease of use for the submissions of
information and the standardisation of the information provided, the Commission
should issue guidance on the use of single information submission point and may adopt
implementing acts to specify the procedural rules, templates and details of thesubmissions. Submissions that are manifestly incomplete, unfounded or made in bad
faith should be discarded. Adequate protection measures should be put in place toensure the safety of any person associated with the submission or the information
contained therein including from retaliation.

(39)

Whistleblowers can bring new information to the attention of competent authorities tohelp them to detect infringements of this Regulation and enable them to take action. Itshould be ensured that adequate arrangements are in place to enable whistleblowers toalert the competent authorities to actual or potential infringements of this Regulationand to protect the whistleblowers from retaliation. For that purpose, it should be
provided in this Regulation that Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliamentand of the Council is applicable to the reporting of breaches of this Regulation and to
the protection of persons reporting such breaches, insofar as they fall within the
personal scope of application of that Directive.

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(40)

To enhance legal certainty, the applicability, pursuant to this Regulation, of Directive(EU) 2019/1937 to reports of breaches of this Regulation and to the protection of
persons reporting such breaches should be reflected in that Directive. The Annex to
Directive (EU) 2019/1937 should therefore be amended accordingly. It is for theMember States to ensure that this amendment is reflected in their transposition
measures adopted in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/1937, although the adoptionof national transposition measures is not a condition for the applicability of that
Directive to the reporting of breaches of this Regulation and to the protection ofreporting persons from the date of application of this Regulation.

(41)

To ensure ease of access to relevant information on this Regulation, the Commission
should set up a single webportal at the Union level, available to the public in all official
languages of the institutions of the Union.

(42)

When identifying potential violations of the prohibition, the Commission or the competentauthorities should follow a risk-based approach and assess all information available tothem. In order to implement the risk-based approach in the prioritisation of theirinvestigations, the Commission and competent authorities should take into account theshare of the suspected part in the final product, the quantity and volume of products
concerned, and the scale and severity of the suspected forced labour, including whether
forced labour imposed by state authorities could be a concern. The Commission andcompetent authorities should also take into account the size and economic resources ofthe economic operators and the complexity of the supply chain, and focus to the extent
possible on the economic operators and where relevant product suppliers that are closer
to the risk of forced labour and have the highest leverage to prevent, mitigate and bringto an end the use of forced labour.

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(43)

Before initiating an investigation, the lead competent authorities should be able torequest information from economic operators under assessment but also from otherrelevant stakeholders, including the persons or associations having submitted relevant
information to competent authorities. Lead competent authorities should be able to opt
for not requesting additional information from economic operators if they assess that
this could lead to an attempt by those economic operators to hide a situation of forced
labour and thus endanger the investigation. The lead competent authorities should
initiate an investigation where, based on their assessment of all available information or on
the basis of any other facts available where it was not possible to gather information andevidence during the preliminary phase of the investigation, they establish that there is a
substantiated concern of a violation of the prohibition.

▌
▌
▌
(44)

In order to increase the effectiveness of the prohibition, competent authorities should grantreasonable time to economic operators to identify, mitigate, prevent and bring to an end therisk of forced labour, taking into account, among others, the complexity of theproceeding and the number of stakeholders involved.

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(45)

Before initiating an investigation, competent authorities should request from the economic
operators under assessment information on actions taken to mitigate, prevent, bring to an
end risks of forced labour or remediate forced labour cases in their operations and supply
chains with respect to the products under assessment. Carrying out such due diligence inrelation to forced labour should contribute to helping the economic operator to be at alower risk of having forced labour in its operations and supply chains. Appropriate due
diligence could mean that forced labour issues in the supply chain have been identified andaddressed in accordance with relevant Union legislation and international standards. That
implies that where the competent authority considers that there is no substantiated concernof a violation of the prohibition, or that the reasons that motivated the existence of a
substantiated concern have been eliminated, for instance due to, but not limited to theapplicable legislation, guidelines, recommendations or any other due diligence in relation
to forced labour being applied in a way that mitigates, prevents and brings to an end therisk of forced labour, no investigation should be initiated.

(46)

Competent authorities, when requesting information during the investigation, should
prioritise to the extent possible and consistent with the effective conduct of theinvestigation the economic operators under investigation that are involved in the steps ofthe supply chain as close as possible to where the likely risk of forced labour occurs andtake into account the size and economic resources of the economic operators, the quantityof products concerned, as well as the scale of suspected forced labour.

▌▌▌

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(47)

Competent authorities should bear the burden of establishing that forced labour has beenused at any stage of production, manufacture, harvest or extraction of a product, including
working or processing related to the product on the basis of all information and evidence
gathered during the investigation, including its preliminary phase. To ensure their right todue process, economic operators should have the opportunity to provide information in
their defence to the competent authorities upon request during the investigation. Where in
response to a request for information from a lead competent authority, an economic
operator or a public authority refuses or fails, without a valid justification, to provide
information requested, provides incomplete or incorrect information with the objectiveof blocking the investigation, provides misleading information or otherwise impedes theinvestigation, including when a risk of forced labour imposed by state authorities is
identified, the lead competent authority should be able to establish that the prohibition
has been violated on the basis of any other relevant and verifiable information gathered
during the preliminary phase of the investigation and the investigation. Lead competentauthorities should also take these factors into account when reviewing a decision takenon this basis.

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(48)

Where the lead competent authority establishes that economic operators violated theprohibition, it should without delay prohibit the placing and making available of suchproducts on the Union market and their export from the Union, and require the economic
operators that have been investigated to withdraw the ▌ products concerned already madeavailable from the Union market and donate perishable products to charitable or public
interest purposes. If such products are not perishable, economic operators should
recycle those products, and if that is not possible, they should have the productdestroyed, rendered inoperable, or otherwise disposed of in accordance with national law
consistent with Union law, including Union legislation on waste management.
Nevertheless, particular attention should be paid to preventing disruptions of supply
chains of strategic or critical importance for the Union and, in this regard, to products
whose disposal would alter the proper functioning of the internal market and of suchsupply chains. In those cases, by way of exception from the obligation to impose anorder to have the product concerned disposed of, the lead competent authority should,
where appropriate, be able to order the product concerned to be withheld for a defined
period, at the cost of the economic operators. When assessing the strategic or criticalimportance of a product for the Union, the lead competent authority should, notably,
take into account the list of sectors established in [proposed Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council on establishing a framework of measures forstrengthening Europe’s net-zero technology products manufacturing ecosystem (Net
Zero Industry Act)] and the Commission Recommendation of 3 October 2023 on criticaltechnology areas for the EU's economic security for further risk assessment withMember States as well as the products listed in the proposed Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure andsustainable supply of critical raw materials and amending Regulations (EU) 168/2013,(EU) 2018/858, 2018/1724 and (EU) 2019/1020 - Critical Raw Materials Act. Whenassessing whether an exception from the obligation to impose an order of disposal isappropriate, lead competent authorities should bear in mind the likelihood that
economic operators will comply with the conditions for the review of the decision within
the period defined by the lead competent authority. The period set by the lead competentauthority would allow the economic operators concerned to demonstrate that they haveeliminated forced labour with regards to the product concerned, by having brought it toan end within their supply chain. Changing one’s supply chain, in the sense of relying

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on different suppliers, cannot be considered as a way to eliminate the forced labour
regarding the product concerned by a decision, since it would result in a different
product. If the concerned economic operators provide the evidence for suchdemonstration, the lead competent authority should review its decision prohibiting theplacing and making available of such products on the Union market, leading to its
withdrawal and hence lifting the withholding of the products concerned. If theconcerned economic operators do not provide such evidence, the decision prohibiting theplacing and making available of such products on the Union market which contains theorder to withhold the products for a defined period should also contain an order todispose the products after the expiry of that period.
(49)

In that decision, lead competent authorities should state the findings of the investigation,and the information underpinning the findings, and set a reasonable time within which theeconomic operators should comply with the decision, as well as information allowing forthe identification of the product to which the decision applies. The Commission should be
empowered to adopt the implementing acts necessary to specify the details about the
information to be contained in such decisions. The decisions from lead competentauthorities should be publicly available.

(50)

In setting a reasonable time to comply with the order, lead competent authorities shouldtake into account the size and economic resources of the economic operators concerned.

(51)

To ensure effective enforcement decisions taken by a competent authority in one Member
State should be recognised and enforced by competent authorities in the other Member
States regarding products with the same identification from the same supply chain forwhich forced labour has been found.

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(52)

Economic operators should have the possibility to request a review of the decisions by thelead competent authorities, after having provided new substantial information which
demonstrates that the products placed or made available on the market or to be exported
are in compliance with Article 3. Lead competent authorities should withdraw theirdecision for the future where the economic operators demonstrate that they havecomplied with the decision and eliminated forced labour from their operations or supply
chain with respect to the products concerned. The decisions by the lead competentauthorities should be subject to judicial review in accordance with the applicable rules
and procedures.

(53)

If the economic operators fail to comply with the decision of the lead competent authority
by the end of the established timeframe, the competent authorities should ensure that the ▌products concerned are prohibited from being placed or made available on the Union
market, exported or withdrawn from the Union market and that any such products
remaining with the relevant economic operators are donated to charitable or public
interest purposes, in case they are perishable. If such products are not perishable,
competent authorities should recycle those products, and if that is not possible, theyshould have the products destroyed, rendered inoperable, or otherwise disposed of inaccordance with national law consistent with Union law, including Union legislation onwaste management and on ecodesign for sustainable products at the expense of theeconomic operators. Where possible, competent authorities should ensure that thedisposal or destruction method chosen has the smallest environmental impact possible of
all the available options. Competent authorities from Member States should be
responsible for the enforcement of the decisions in their own territory, including ofdecisions adopted by the Commission. After the decisions are communicated via the
ICSMS, all competent authorities concerned with the specific decision shall proceed withthe relevant enforcement actions foreseen in the Regulation.

(54)

The effect on animal welfare should be considered when enforcing the prohibition of theplacing and making available of products made using forced labour in order to spare theanimals concerned any avoidable pain, distress or suffering. In addition, this Regulation
should be without prejudice to the legislation regarding animal welfare, such as Council

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Regulations (EC) No 1/200523 and (EC) No 1099/200924.
▌(55)

Decisions of the lead competent authorities establishing a violation of the prohibition
should be communicated to customs authorities, who should aim at identifying the productconcerned amongst products declared for release for free circulation or export. The
competent authorities of the Member States should be responsible for the overall
enforcement of the prohibition with regard to the internal market as well as products
entering or leaving the Union market. Since forced labour is part of the manufacturing
process and does not leave any trace on the product, and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020
covers only manufactured products and its scope is limited to release for free circulation,
the customs authorities would be unable to act autonomously under Regulation (EU)2019/1020 for the application and enforcement of the prohibition. The specificorganisation of controls of each Member State should be without prejudice to Regulation(EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council25 and its generalprovisions on the control and supervisory powers of customs authorities.

23

24
25

Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals
during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97, OJ L 3, 5.1.2005, p. 1.
Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection ofanimals at the time of killing, OJ L 303, 18.11.2009, p. 1.
Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October
2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (recast) (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1).

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(56)

The information currently provided or made available to customs authorities by economic
operators includes only general information on the products but lacks information on the
manufacturer or producer and product suppliers as well as specific information on
products. In order for customs authorities to be able to identify products entering or leaving
the Union market that may violate the Regulation and should accordingly be stopped at the
EU external borders, economic operators should submit to customs authorities information
allowing matching a decision of the lead competent authorities with the product concerned.
This should include information on the manufacturer or producer and the product suppliers
as well as any other information on the product itself. To this end, the Commission shouldbe empowered to adopt delegated acts identifying the products for which such information
should be provided using, amongst others, the database established under this Regulation
as well as the information and decisions of the lead competent authorities encoded in theinformation and communication system set out in Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020(‘ICSMS’). Moreover, the Commission should be empowered to adopt ▌ implementing
acts necessary to specify the details of the information to be provided or made available tocustoms by the economic operators. This information should include the description, nameor brand of the product, specific requirements under Union legislation for the identificationof the product (such as a type, reference, model, batch or serial number affixed on the
product, or provided on the packaging or in a document accompanying the product, or
unique identifier of the digital product passport) as well as details on the manufacturer or
producer and the product suppliers, including for each of them their name, trade name orregistered trademark, their contact details, their unique identification number in the country
they are established and, where available, their Economic Operators Registration and
Identification (EORI) number. The review of the Union Customs Code will consider
introducing in the customs legislation the information required to be provided or madeavailable to customs by the economic operators for the enforcement of this Regulation andmore broadly to strengthen the transparency of the supply chain. The Commission should
issue guidance and support to economic operators, especially SMEs, on how to collect
the required information.

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(57)

Customs authorities that identify a product that may be covered by a decisioncommunicated by lead competent authorities establishing a violation of the prohibition
should suspend the release of that product and notify the competent authorities
immediately. Competent authorities should reach a conclusion within a reasonable
timeframe on the case notified to them by the customs authorities, either by confirming orby denying that the product concerned is covered by a decision. Where necessary and duly
justified, the competent authorities should be authorised to require maintaining thesuspension of its release, taking into account the potential damage for the economic
operator. In the absence of a conclusion by competent authorities within the specified time
limit, customs authorities should release the products if all other applicable requirements
and formalities are fulfilled. Generally, the release for free circulation or export should also
not be deemed to be proof of compliance with Union law, since such a release does notnecessarily include a complete control of such compliance.

(58)

Where the competent authorities conclude that a product corresponds to a decision
establishing a violation of the prohibition, they should immediately inform customs
authorities which should refuse its release for free circulation or export. Customs
authorities should be able, where a competent authority so requests and on behalf andunder the responsibility of that competent authority, to alternatively seize that productand put it at the disposal of and under the authority of that competent authority. In suchcases, the relevant competent authority should take all the necessary measures to ensurethat the product concerned is disposed appropriately. That may include its donation tocharitable organisations or organisations that benefit public interest, its recycling or its
otherwise disposal of in accordance with national law consistent with Union law at theexpense of the relevant economic operator.

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(59)

The lead competent authorities should take into due consideration the risk ofdisengagement by economic operators who are either related to products or regions in
the database, or who have had their product removed from the Union market, as well as
the consequences on affected workers. Lead competent authorities should therefore,
where appropriate, support economic operators in adopting and carrying out measures
suitable and effective for bringing forced labour to an end. Responsible disengagement
includes complying with collective agreements and articulating escalation measures.

(60)

The conditions applicable to products during the suspension of their release for freecirculation or export, including their storage or destruction and disposal of in case of arefusal of release for circulation, should be determined by customs authorities, whereapplicable pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. Should products entering the Union
market require further processing, they are to be placed under the appropriate customs
procedure allowing such processing in accordance with Articles 220, 254, 256, 257 and258 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

(61)

Where, for the prohibition, it is necessary to process personal data, such processing should
be carried out in accordance with Union law on the protection of personal data. Anyprocessing of personal data under the prohibition should be subject to Regulation (EU)2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council26 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725
of the European Parliament and of the Council27.

26

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Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protectionof natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, andrepealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1.
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on theprotection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies,
offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 andDecision No 1247/2002/EC, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.

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(62)

In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation,
implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards: (a) theprocedural rules and the details of the arrangements for the use of the information andcommunication system referred to in Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020; (b) theprocedural rules, templates and details for the submission of information on alleged
violations of the prohibition on the placing or making available or exporting of products
made out of forced labour; (c) the decisions adopted by the Commission establishing thatthe prohibition on the placing or making available or exporting of products made out offorced labour has been violated; (d) the withdrawal of those decisions; (e) the details of
the content of those decisions and of the equivalent decisions adopted by competentauthorities ; (f) the arrangements and details for providing or making available to thecustoms authorities certain information on specific products or product groups. Those
powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council28.

(63)

The Commission should adopt immediately applicable implementing acts where, in duly
justified cases relating to the withdrawal of the decisions establishing that theprohibition on the placing or making available or exporting of products made out offorced labour has been violated, imperative grounds of urgency so require.

(64)

In order to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of this Regulation, thepower to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of theEuropean Union (TFEU) should be delegated to the Commission. It is of particularimportance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations during its
preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing
up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of
relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.

28

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down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of theCommission's exercise of implementing powers, OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.

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(65)

In order to ensure that the customs authorities are able to act effectively the power to adopt
acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in
respect of further specifying the additional information identifying the ▌ productconcerned that economic operators should make available or provide to the customs
authorities as regards products entering or leaving the Union market. That information
may be information identifying the product concerned, information about the
manufacturer or the producer and information about the product suppliers. Customs
authorities need to be enabled to obtain information rapidly on specific products, identified
in the decisions of the competent authorities in order to take actions and measureseffectively and swiftly. In such cases, delegated acts should be adopted in an urgent
procedure.

(66)

Member States shall confer on their competent authorities the power to impose andimplement effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in cases where the economic
operator has failed to comply with a decision prohibiting the placing on the market of
products. The rules on penalties applicable to non-compliance with a decision should beestablished by Member States, giving due regard to elements such as the gravity andduration of the infringement, previous infringements by the economic operator, thedegree of cooperation with competent authorities and any other mitigating or
aggravating factor applicable to the circumstances of the particular case. The
Commission should issue guidance for Member States on the method for calculating
financial penalties and the thresholds applicable and the EU Network should promote
best practices in the application of such penalties.

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(67)

The Commission should carry out an evaluation of the implementation and enforcementof this Regulation and submit a report thereon to the European Parliament, the Council
and the European Economic and Social Committee. The report should assess thecontribution of the Regulation to the elimination of products made with forced labour
from the internal market and to the fight against forced labour as well as to thecooperation between competent authorities and international cooperation to eliminate
forced labour. The report should also assess the impact of the Regulation, on businesses,
in particular SMEs, and on victims, as well as the overall costs and benefits of theprohibition. The report should further assess the alignment of this Regulation with otherrelevant Union legislation.

(68)

This Regulation respects the right to good administration, enshrined in Article 41 of the
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which includes, inter alia, the right of every person
to be heard, before any individual measure which would affect him or her adversely istaken. To this regard, the lead competent authorities conducting the investigation should
inform the economic operators concerned about the initiation of the investigation andthe possible consequences thereof. To ensure their right to due process, economic
operators should have the opportunity to provide information in their defence to thecompetent authorities upon their request during the investigation. Economic operators
should have the possibility to request the lead competent authority to review the decisionaffecting them, by providing new substantial information. The decisions adopted by
Member States’ competent authorities should be subject to judicial review foreseen inapplicable national law. The decisions adopted by the Commission under this Regulation
are subject to review by the Court of Justice in accordance with Article 263 TFEU.

(69)

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely, the prohibition, cannot be sufficiently
achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, be better
achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principleof subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance withthe principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go
beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

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(70)

In order to allow for the prompt application of the measures provided for in thisRegulation, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Chapter I
General provisions
Article 1
Subject matter and scope
1.

This Regulation lays down rules prohibiting economic operators from placing and making
available on the Union market or exporting from the Union market products made withforced labour with a view to improving the functioning of the internal market, while
contributing to the fight against forced labour.

2.

This Regulation shall not cover the withdrawal of products which have reached the endusers in the Union market.

3.

This Regulation does not create additional due diligence obligations for economic
operators besides those already provided by Union or national law.
Article 2
Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:(a)‘forced labour’ means forced or compulsory labour, including forced child labour, as
defined in Article 2 of the Convention on Forced Labour, 1930 (No. 29) of theInternational Labour Organization ▌ ;7542/24
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(b)

‘forced labour imposed by state authorities’ means the use of forced labour as described in
Article 1 of the Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957 (No. 105) of theInternational Labour Organization;(c)‘due diligence in relation to forced labour’ means the efforts by economic operator to
implement mandatory requirements, voluntary guidelines, recommendations or practices to
identify, prevent, mitigate or bring to an end the use of forced labour with respect toproducts that are to be placed or to be made available on the Union market or to beexported;(d)‘making available on the market’ means any supply of a product for distribution,
consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in
return for payment or free of charge ▌ ;(e)‘placing on the market’ means the first making available of a product on the Union market;(f)‘product’ means any product that can be valued in money and is capable, as such, of
forming the subject of commercial transactions, whether it is extracted, harvested,
produced or manufactured, including working or processing related to a product at any
stage of its supply chain;(g)‘product made with forced labour’ means a product for which forced labour has been used
in whole or in part at any stage of its extraction, harvest, production or manufacture,including working or processing related to a product at any stage of its supply chain;(h)'supply chain' means the system of activities, processes and actors involved at all stages
upstream of the product being made available on the market, namely the extraction,
harvesting, production and manufacturing of a product in whole or in part, including
working or processing related to the product at any of those stages;

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(i)

‘economic operator’ means any natural or legal person or association of persons who is
placing or making available products on the Union market or exporting products from theUnion;(j)‘manufacturer’ means any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a
product designed or manufactured, and markets that products under its name ortrademark;(k)‘producer’ means the producer of agricultural products as referred to in Article 38(1)Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or of raw materials;(l)‘product supplier’ means any natural or legal person or association of persons in the supply
chain who extracts, harvests, produces or manufactures a product in whole or in part, orintervenes in the working or processing related to a product at any stage of its supply
chain, whether as manufacturer or in any other circumstances;(m)‘end user’ means any natural or legal person residing or established in the Union, towhom a product has been made available either as a consumer outside of any trade,business, craft or profession or as a professional end user in the course of its industrial
or professional activities;(n)‘importer’ means any natural or legal person or association of persons established within
the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union market;(o)‘exporter’ means the exporter as defined in Article 1, point (19), of Commission DelegatedRegulation (EU) 2015/244629;

29

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Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 supplementing
Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards
detailed rules concerning certain provisions of the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343,
29.12.2015, p. 1).
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(p)

‘substantiated concern’ means a reasonable indication based on objective, factual andverifiable information, for the competent authorities to suspect that products were likely
made with forced labour;(q)‘lead competent authority’ means the authority responsible for assessing submissions,conducting investigations, and taking decisions in accordance with Article 15, which
could be a Member State competent authority or the Commission;(r)‘customs authorities’ means customs authorities as defined in Article 5, point (1), ofRegulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council30;(s)‘products entering the Union market’ means products from third countries intended to beplaced on the Union market or intended for private use or consumption within the customs
territory of the Union and to be placed under the customs procedure ‘release for freecirculation’;(t)‘products leaving the Union market’ means products to be placed under the customs
procedure ‘export’;(u)‘release for free circulation’ means the procedure laid down in Article 201 of Regulation(EU) No 952/2013;(v)‘export’ means the procedure laid down in Article 269 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;(w)‘EU Customs Single Window Certificates Exchange System’ or (EU CSW-CERTEX)
means the system established by Article 4 of ▌ Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council31 ▌ ;30
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Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October
2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1).
Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23
November 2022 establishing the European Union Single Window Environment for
Customs and amending Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (OJ L 317, 9.12.2022, p. 1).
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(x)

‘National single window environments for customs’ means the national single window
environments for customs as defined in point 9 of Article 2 of ▌ Regulation (EU)2022/2399▌ .
Article 3
Prohibition of products made with forced labour

Economic operators shall not place or make available on the Union market products that are madewith forced labour, nor shall they export such products.
▌
Article 4Cases where a product is offered through distance selling

Products offered for sale online or through other means of distance selling shall be deemed to bemade available on the market if the offer is targeted at end-users in the Union. An offer for saleshall be considered to be targeted at end-users in the Union if the relevant economic operator
directs, by any means, its activities to one or more Member States.
Article 5Competent authorities
1.

Member States shall designate one or more competent authorities responsible for carryingout the obligations set out in this Regulation. Designated Member State competentauthorities and the Commission shall work in close cooperation and be responsible for
ensuring the effective and uniform implementation of this Regulation throughout theUnion.

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2.

Where Member States have designated more than one competent authority, they shallclearly demarcate the respective duties and establish communication and coordination
mechanisms that enable those authorities to collaborate closely and exercise their duties
effectively.

3.

No later than ... [12 months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation], Member
States shall, through the information and communication system referred to in Article 7(1),provide the Commission and the other Member States with the following information:(a)the names, addresses and contact details of the designated competent authority or
authorities;(b)

the areas of competence of the designated competent authority or authorities.

Member States shall regularly update the information set out in points (a) and (b) of thefirst subparagraph of this paragraph.
4.

The Commission shall make the list of the designated competent authorities publicly
available on the Forced Labour Single Portal and shall regularly update that list, based on
the updates received from Member States.

5.

Member States shall ensure that the designated competent authorities exercise their powers
impartially, transparently and with due respect for obligations of professional secrecy.
Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities have the necessary powers,
expertise, and resources to carry out the investigations, including sufficient budgetary andother resources ▌ .

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6.

Member States shall ensure that competent authorities coordinate closely and exchange
information with the relevant national authorities, such as the labour inspections andjudicial and law enforcement authorities, including those responsible for the fightagainst trafficking in human beings, and the authorities designated by the Member State
under Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council32.

7.

Member States shall confer on their competent authorities the power to impose, either
directly, in cooperation with other authorities or by application to the competent judicial
authorities, penalties in accordance with Article 37.

Chapter II
Governance
Article 6
Union Network Against Forced Labour Products
1.

A Union Network Against Forced Labour Products (‘the Network’) is hereby established.

2.

The Network shall serve as a platform for structured coordination and cooperation between
the competent authorities of the Member States and the Commission, and to streamline thepractices of enforcement of this Regulation within the Union, thereby making enforcement
more effective and coherent.

32

Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October
2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (OJ L 305,
26.11.2019, p. 17).

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3.

The Network shall be composed of representatives from each Member State,
representatives from the Commission and, where appropriate, representatives from thecustoms authorities.

4.

The Commission shall coordinate the work of the Network. A representative from theCommission shall chair the meetings of the Network.

5.

The Network shall have a secretariat provided by the Commission. The secretariat shallorganise the meetings of the Network and provide technical and logistical support to the
Network.

6.

Members of the Network shall actively participate to ensure efficient coordination andcooperation, and contribute to the uniform implementation of this Regulation.

7.

The Network shall have the following tasks:(a)facilitate the identification of common enforcement priorities to achieve theobjectives of prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market
and contributing to the fight against forced labour;(b)facilitate the coordination of investigations;(c)follow-up on the enforcement of decisions taken pursuant to Article 20;(d)upon request from the Commission, contribute to the development of guidelines
referred to in Article 11;(e)facilitate and coordinate the collection and exchange of information, expertise andbest practices with regard to the application of this Regulation;(f)contribute to uniform risk-based approaches and administrative practices for the
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promote best practices in the application of penalties provided by Article 37;

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(h)

cooperate, as appropriate, with Commission services, Union agencies or Member
State authorities relevant for the implementation of this Regulation,(i)

promote the cooperation, exchanges of personnel and visit programmes among
competent authorities and customs authorities, as well as between these and third
countries’ competent authorities and international organisations;(j)facilitate the organisation of training and capacity building activities on theimplementation of this Regulation for competent authorities, customs authorities
and other relevant authorities of Member States, the Commission and Union
Delegations in third countries;(k)upon request from the Commission, provide assistance to the Commission on thedevelopment of a coordinated approach for engagement and cooperation with third
countries pursuant to Article 13,(l)monitor situations of systemic use of forced labour;(m) assist in the organisation of information and awareness-raising campaigns about
this Regulation;(n)promote and facilitate collaboration to explore possibilities for using newtechnologies for the enforcement of this Regulation and the traceability of
products;(o)collect data on remediation linked to the decisions and evaluation of theireffectiveness.

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8.

Other relevant Member State authorities can attend meetings on an ad hoc basis.
Experts and stakeholders, including representatives from trade unions and otherworkers’ organisations, civil society and human rights organisations, businessorganisations, international organisations, third countries’ relevant authorities, theEuropean Agency for Fundamental Rights, the European Labour Authority or relevantCommission services, Union Delegations and Union agencies with expertise in the areas
covered by the Regulation may be invited to attend meetings of the Network or to provide
written contributions.

9.

The Network shall meet at regular intervals and, where necessary, at the duly motivated
request of the Commission or a Member State.

10.

The Commission and the Member States shall ensure that the Network has the necessary
resources to carry out the tasks referred to in paragraph 7, including sufficientbudgetary resources.

11.

The Network shall establish its rules of procedure.
▌
Article 7
Information and communication systems

1.

For the purposes of Chapters III, IV, and V, competent authorities and the Commission
shall use the information and communication system referred to in Article 34 of Regulation(EU) 2019/1020 the European Parliament and of the Council33. The Commission,competent authorities and customs authorities shall have access to that system for the
purposes of this Regulation.

2.

The decisions communicated pursuant to Article 26(3) shall be entered in the relevant
customs risk management environment.

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2004/42/EC and Regulations (EC) No 765/2008 and (EU) No 305/2011 (OJ L 169,
25.6.2019, p. 1).
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3.

The Commission shall develop an interconnection to enable the automated communicationof decisions referred to in Article 26(3) from the information and communication systemreferred to in paragraph 1 to the environment referred to in paragraph 2. Thatinterconnection shall start operating no later than 2 years from the date of the adoption of
the implementing act referred to in paragraph 7, point (b), in respect of thatinterconnection.

4.

Requests and notifications exchanged between competent authorities and customs
authorities pursuant to Chapter V, Section II of this Regulation as well as the ensuingmessages shall take place by means of the information and communication system referred
to in paragraph 1.

5.

An interconnection between the information and communication system referred to inparagraph 1 and the EU Single Window Environment for Customs shall be establishedin accordance with Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 for the purposes of exchanging therequests and notifications between customs and competent authorities pursuant to Chapter
V, Section II of this Regulation. That interconnection shall be established at the latest
within 4 years from the date of adoption of the implementing act referred to in paragraph 7.
The exchanges referred to in paragraph 4 shall take place through that interconnection assoon as it is operational.

6.

The Commission may extract from the surveillance system referred to in Article 56(1) of
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/244734 information on products enteringor leaving the Union market related to the implementation of this Regulation and transmit
it to the information and communication system referred to in paragraph 1.

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detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343,
29.12.2015, p. 558).
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7.

The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts in accordance with theexamination procedure pursuant to Article 35(2) to specify the procedural rules and thedetails of the implementation arrangements for this Article, including:(a)the functionalities, data elements and data processing, as well as the rules on theprocessing of personal data, confidentiality and controllership, of the information andcommunication system referred to in paragraphs 1 and 4;(b)

the functionalities, data elements and data processing, as well as the rules on theprocessing of personal data, confidentiality and controllership for the interconnectionreferred to in paragraph 3;(c)the data to be transmitted, as well as the rules on its confidentiality andcontrollership, in accordance with paragraph 6.
Article 8
Database of forced labour risk areas or products

1.

The Commission shall establish a database, with the assistance of external expertise ifneeded. This database shall provide an indicative, non-exhaustive, evidence-based,verifiable and regularly updated information of forced labour risks in specific geographic
areas or with respect to specific products or product groups including with regard toforced labour imposed by state authorities. The database shall prioritise the identificationof widespread and severe forced labour risks.

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2.

The database shall be based on independent and verifiable information, frominternational organisations, in particular the International Labour Organization and theUnited Nations Organization, or institutional, research or academic organisations.
It shall not publicly disclose information that directly names economic operators. The
database shall be made available in all official languages of the institutions of theUnion.
The database shall indicate specific economic sectors in specific geographic areas forwhich there is reliable and verifiable evidence that there exists forced labour imposed bystate authorities.

2.

The Commission shall ensure that the database is easily accessible, including for persons
with disabilities, and made publicly available, in all official languages of the institutionsof the Union, at the latest … [18 months after ▌the date of entry into force of thisRegulation].
▌
Article 9Single information submission point

1.

The Commission shall set up a dedicated centralised mechanism for the submission of
information. This mechanism shall be available in all official languages of theinstitutions of the Union, and it shall be user friendly and free of charge.

2.

Submissions of information on alleged violations of Article 3 shall be made via the single
information submission point referred to in paragraph 1 by any natural or legal person or
any association not having legal personality. The submissions shall contain information on
the economic operators or products concerned, provide the reasons and evidence
substantiating the allegation, and where possible, supporting documents. The
Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts to specify the procedural rules,
templates and details of the submissions. Those implementing acts shall be adopted inaccordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2).

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3.

The Commission shall discard any submissions that are manifestly incomplete orunfounded or made in bad faith and distribute the remaining submissions according to
the allocation key referred to in Article 15 for their assessment.

▌
4.

The lead competent authority in charge of the assessment pursuant to paragraph 3 shalldiligently and impartially assess the information, acknowledge the receipt of thesubmission and inform the person of the outcome of the assessment of its submission assoon as possible.

5.

The lead competent authority may ask the person or association referred to in paragraph1 to provide additional information.

6.

In cases where there is a significant time interval between the submission of informationand the decision to proceed with an investigation according to Chapter III, the leadcompetent authority shall, to the extent possible, verify with the person or association
submitting the information whether the situation has, to the best of their knowledge,
significantly changed.

7.

Directive (EU) 2019/1937 shall apply to the reporting of the breaches of this Regulationand the protection of persons reporting such breaches.
Article 10
Support measures for SMEs

The Commission shall develop accompanying measures to support the efforts of economic
operators and their business partners in the same supply chain, in particular the micro, small
and medium-sized enterprises. Where appropriate, these measures shall be made available
through the Forced Labour Single Portal.
Competent authorities shall designate contact points to provide information to SMEs for mattersrelated to the application of this Regulation. Those contact points may also provide assistance toSMEs on those matters.

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Member State competent authorities may also organize trainings for economic operators on
forced labour risk indicators and on how to engage in dialogue with authorities throughout an
investigation.
Article 11
Guidelines
The Commission, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, shall make available and regularly
update guidelines, no later than … [18 months after the date of entry into force of this Regulation],
which shall include the following:(a)

guidance for economic operators on due diligence in relation to forced labour, including
forced child labour, which shall take into account applicable national and Union
legislation, setting out due diligence requirements with respect to forced labour, guidelines
and recommendations from international organisations, as well as the size and economic
resources of economic operators, different types of suppliers along the supply chain, anddifferent sectors;(b)

guidance for economic operators on best practices for bringing to an end andremediating different types of forced labour;(c)guidance for competent authorities on the practical implementation of Articles 16 and
18, Article 8, including benchmarks for assisting competent authorities in their riskbased assessments of investigations and guidelines on the applicable standard ofevidence;(d)

guidance for customs authorities and economic operators for the practicalimplementation of Article 27 and, where appropriate, any other provision laid down in
Section II of Chapter V of this Regulation;(e)

information on risk indicators of forced labour, including on how to identify them, whichshall be based on independent and verifiable information, including reports frominternational organisations, in particular the International Labour Organization, civilsociety, business organisations, trade unions, and experience from implementing Union
legislation setting out due diligence requirements with respect to forced labour;

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(f)

guidance for economic operators on due diligence in relation to forced labour imposedby state authorities;(g)

guidance for economic operators and product suppliers on how to engage in dialogue
with competent authorities pursuant to Chapter III, in particular on the type of
information to be submitted;(h)guidance on how to submit information pursuant to Article 9;(i)

guidance for Member States on the method for calculating financial penalties and thethresholds applicable;(j)further information to facilitate the competent authorities’ implementation of and theeconomic operator’s compliance with this Regulation;▌

The guidance referred to in points (a), (b) and (f), shall focus in particular on assistingsmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in complying with this Regulation.
The guidelines shall be consistent with guidelines provided in accordance with otherrelevant Union law.
Article 12
Forced Labour Single Portal

The Commission shall set up and regularly update a single website making available to the
public, in the same place and in all the official languages of the institutions of the Union, thefollowing items:(a)the list and contacts of the designated competent authorities;(b)

the guidelines;(c)the database;(d)a list of publicly available information sources of relevance for the implementation ofthis Regulation, including sources which make available disaggregated data on theimpact and victims of forced labour, such as gender-disaggregated data or data about
forced child labour, allowing to identify age- and gender-specific trends;

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(e)

the single information submission point;(f)any decision to ban a product;(g)any withdrawal of a ban;(h)the result of reviews.

▌
Article 13
International Cooperation
1.

In order to facilitate effective implementation and enforcement of this Regulation, theCommission shall, as appropriate, cooperate ▌ and exchange information with ▌authorities of third countries, international organisations, civil society representatives,trade unions, business organisations and other relevant stakeholders.

2.

International cooperation with authorities of third countries shall take place in a
structured way, for example in the context of existing dialogues with third countries,
such as human rights and political dialogues, implementation of trade and sustainable
development commitments of trade agreements or the Generalised Scheme ofPreferences, and EU development cooperation initiatives or, if necessary, specificdialogues that will be created on an ad hoc basis. This cooperation may involve
exchanges of information on forced labour risk areas or products, of best practices forbringing forced labour to an end, and of information on decisions to ban products,
including their reasons and evidence, in particular with countries that have similar
legislation in place.

3.

For the purposes of paragraph 2, the Commission and Member States may consider thedevelopment of cooperation initiatives and accompanying measures to support theefforts of economic operators, in particular SMEs, as well as civil society organisations,social partners and third countries to tackle forced labour and its root causes.

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Investigations
Article 14
Risk-based approach
1.

Competent authorities and the Commission shall follow a risk-based approach whenassessing the likelihood of violation of Article 3, initiating and conducting thepreliminary phase of the investigations and identifying the products and economic
operators concerned.

2.

In their assessment of the likelihood of a violation of Article 3, competent authorities
and the Commission shall use the following criteria, as appropriate, in order to prioritise
products suspected to have been made with forced labour:(a)scale and severity of the suspected forced labour, including whether forced labour
imposed by state authorities could be a concern;(b)quantity or volume of products placed or made available on the Union market;(c)share of the part suspected to have been made with forced labour in the final
product.

3.

The assessment of the likelihood of a violation of Article 3 shall be based on all relevant,factual, and verifiable information available to competent authorities and theCommission, including, but not limited to, the following:(a)information and decisions encoded in the information and communication systemreferred to in Article 7(1), including any past cases of compliance or noncompliance of an economic operator with Article 3;7542/24
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(b)

the database referred to in Article 8;(c)the risk indicators and other information pursuant to Article 11, point (e);(d)

submissions made pursuant to Article 9;(e)information received by the competent authority or the Commission from otherauthorities relevant for the implementation of this regulation, such as Member
States’ due diligence, labour, health or fiscal authorities, on the products andeconomic operators under assessment;(f)

any issues arising from meaningful consultations with relevant stakeholders, suchas civil society organisations and trade unions.

4.

When initiating a preliminary investigation pursuant to Article 17, lead competentauthorities shall, to the extent possible, focus on the economic operators and, where
relevant, product suppliers involved in the steps of the supply chain as close possible towhere the forced labour likely occurs, and with the highest leverage to prevent, mitigate
and bring to an end the use of forced labour. Lead competent authorities shall also take
into account the size and economic resources of the economic operators, in particularwhether the economic operator is an SME, and the complexity of the supply chain.

▌▌
Article 15
Allocation of investigations
1.

Where the suspected forced labour is taking place outside the territory of the Union, theCommission shall act as lead competent authority.

2.

Where the suspected forced labour is taking place in the territory of a Member State, acompetent authority of that Member State ▌ shall act as lead competent authority.

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Article 16
Coordination of investigations and mutual assistance1.

The Commission and competent authorities shall cooperate closely between them andprovide each other with mutual assistance in order to implement this Regulation in aconsistent and efficient manner.

2.

Lead competent authorities shall respect the right of the economic operator to be heard
at all stages of the process.

3.

Lead competent authorities shall, at any time and without undue delay, communicate via
the information and communication system referred to in Article 7(1) if they find new
information about suspected forced labour taking place in a territory for which they are
not competent for pursuant to Article 15.

4.

The lead competent authority may request the support of other relevant competentauthorities, including to contact economic operators whose place of establishment iswithin the territory of that Member State or whose language of operation is that of a
Member State. Other competent authorities that have an interest in the investigation may
request to be closely involved in the investigation.

5.

A competent authority that has received, through the information and communication
system referred to in Article 7(1), a request for information from another competentauthority shall provide an answer within 20 working days from the date of receipt of therequest.

6.

The requested competent authority may ask the requesting competent authority tocomplement the information contained in the request if it concludes that the information
provided initially is not sufficient.

7.

A requested competent authority may refuse to comply with a request only if therequested authority demonstrates that complying with the request would substantially
impair the execution of its own activities.
▌

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Article 17
Preliminary phase of investigations
1.

Before initiating an investigation in accordance with Article 18(1), lead competentauthorities shall request from the economic operators under assessment and, where
relevant, other product suppliers, information on their relevant actions taken to identify,
prevent, mitigate, bring to an end or remediate risks of forced labour in their operations
and supply chains with respect to the products under assessment, including on the basis of
any of the following, unless it would jeopardise the outcome of the assessment:(a)applicable Union legislation or Member States legislation setting out due diligenceand transparency requirements with respect to forced labour;(b)the guidelines issued by the Commission ▌ ;(c)due diligence guidelines or recommendations of the UN, ILO, OECD or otherrelevant international organisations, in particular those guidelines andrecommendations relating to geographic areas, productions sites and economic
activities in certain sectors in which there are systematic and widespread forced
labour practices;(d)any other meaningful due diligence or other information in relation to forced labourin their supply chain.

Lead competent authorities may request information on those actions from otherrelevant stakeholders, including the persons or associations having submitted relevant,factual, and verifiable information pursuant to Article 9 and any other natural or legal
persons related to the products and geographical areas under assessment, as well asfrom the European External Action Service and Union Delegations in relevant third
countries.

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2.

Economic operators shall respond to the request ▌ referred to in paragraph 1 within 30
working days from the day they received such request. Economic operators may provide ▌any other information they may deem useful for the purposes of this Article.
Where necessary, economic operators may request support on how to engage with thelead competent authority from a contact point referred to in Article 10.

3.

Within 30 working days from the date of receipt of the information submitted by economic
operators pursuant to paragraph 2, lead competent authorities shall conclude thepreliminary phase of their investigation as to whether there is a substantiated concern ofviolation of Article 3, on the basis of the assessment referred to in Article 14(3) and theinformation submitted by economic operators pursuant to paragraph 2.
▌

4.

Notwithstanding paragraph 3, lead competent authorities may conclude that there is ▌substantiated concern on the basis of any other facts available where lead competentauthorities have refrained from requesting information in accordance with paragraph 1
or in the situations referred to in Article 20(2), points (a) to (e).

5.

Lead competent authorities shall not initiate an investigation pursuant to Article 18, andshall inform the economic operators under assessment accordingly, where, on the basisof the assessment referred to in Article 14(3) and, if any, of the information submitted byeconomic operators pursuant to paragraph 2, they consider that there is no substantiatedconcern of a violation of Article 3, or that the reasons that motivated the existence of a
substantiated concern have been eliminated, for instance due to, but not limited to, theapplicable legislation, guidelines, recommendations or any other due diligence inrelation to forced labour referred to in paragraph 1 being applied in a way thatmitigates, prevents and brings to an end the risk of forced labour.

6.

Lead competent authorities shall communicate through the information andcommunication system referred to in Article 7(1) the outcome of their assessment
pursuant to paragraph 5.
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Article 18
Investigations
1.

Lead competent authorities that, pursuant to Article 17(4) determine that there is a
substantiated concern of a violation of Article 3, shall initiate an investigation on the
products and economic operators concerned and inform the economic operators subject
to the investigation, within 3 working days from the date of the decision to initiate suchinvestigation, about the following:(a)the initiation of the investigation and the possible consequences thereof;(b)

the products subject to the investigation;(c)the reasons for the initiation of the investigation, unless it would jeopardise theoutcome of the investigation;(d)the possibility for the economic operators to submit any other document or
information to the lead competent authority, and the date by which such information
has to be submitted.

2.

Lead competent authorities shall communicate through the information andcommunication system referred to in Article 7(1) the initiation of an investigation
pursuant to paragraph 1.

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3.

Where requested to do so by lead competent authorities, economic operators underinvestigation shall submit ▌ any information that is relevant and necessary for theinvestigation, including information identifying the products under investigation and,
where appropriate, identifying the part of the product to which the investigation should
be limited, the manufacturer, producer or product supplier of those products or parts
thereof. In requesting such information, lead competent authorities shall, to the extent
possible, prioritise the economic operators under investigation involved in the steps ofthe supply chain as close as possible to where the forced labour likely occurs, and take
into account the size and economic resources of the economic operators, in particularwhether the operator is an SME, the quantity of products concerned, the complexity ofthe supply chain, as well as the scale of suspected forced labour. Where necessary,
economic operators may request support on how to engage with the lead competentauthority from a contact point referred to in Article 10.

4.

Lead competent authorities shall set a deadline for economic operators for submitting
the information referred to in paragraph 3 of at least 30 working days and no longer
than 60 working days. Nevertheless, economic operators may request an extension ofthat deadline with a justification. When deciding on such extension, lead competentauthorities shall consider the size and economic resources of the economic operatorsconcerned, including whether the economic operator is an SME.

5.

Lead competent authorities may collect information from or interview any relevant
natural or legal person who consents to be interviewed for the purpose of collecting
information relating to the subject matter of the investigation, including relevant
economic operators and any other stakeholders.
▌

6.

Lead competent authorities may, where needed, carry out all necessary checks andinspections in accordance with Article 19.

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Article 19
Field inspections
1.

In exceptional situations where the lead competent authority may deem it necessary to
conduct field inspections, it shall undertake this with consideration to where the risk offorced labour is located.

2.

Where the risk of forced labour is located in the territory of the Member State, the leadcompetent authority may conduct its own inspections, in accordance with national law incompliance with Union law. If needed, the lead competent authority may ask thecooperation of other national authorities relevant for the implementation of thisregulation, such as labour, health or fiscal authorities.

3.

Where the risk of forced labour is located outside the territory of the Union, theCommission acting as lead competent authority may carry out all necessary checks andinspections provided that the economic operators concerned give their consent and thatthe government of the third country in which the inspections are to take place has been
officially notified and raises no objection. Assistance from the European External
Action Service may be requested, as appropriate, to facilitate such contacts.

▌

Chapter IV
Decisions
Article 20
Decisions ▌1.

Lead competent authorities shall assess all information and evidence gathered pursuant toChapter III, and, on that basis, establish whether the products concerned have beenplaced or made available on the market or are being exported in violation of Article 3,
within a reasonable period of time from the date they initiated the investigation pursuant to
Article 18(1). Lead competent authorities shall endeavour to adopt their decisions within
9 months from the date they initiated the investigation.

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2.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1, lead competent authorities may establish that Article 3 hasbeen violated on the basis of any other facts available where it was not possible to gather
information and evidence pursuant to Article 17(1) and Article 18(3), notably where, in
response to a request for information, an economic operator or a public authority:(a)refuses to provide the information requested without a valid justification; or(b)fails to provide the information requested within the time limit prescribed without avalid justification; or(c)provides incomplete or incorrect information with the objective of blocking theinvestigation; or(d)provides misleading information; or(e)otherwise impedes the investigation, including when a risk of forced labour
imposed by state authorities is identified during the preliminary phase of theinvestigation or the investigation.

3.

Where lead competent authorities cannot establish that the products concerned have beenplaced or made available on the market or are being exported in violation of Article 3,
they shall close the investigation and inform the economic operators that have been
subject to the investigation. They shall also inform all other competent authorities
through the information and communication system referred to in Article 7(1). Closing
the investigation shall not preclude the launch of a new investigation into the same
product and economic operator in case new relevant information arises.

▌
4.

Where lead competent authorities establish that the products concerned have been placedor made available on the market or are being exported in violation of Article 3, they shallwithout delay adopt a decision containing:(a)a prohibition to place or make the products concerned available on the Union market
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(b)

an order for the economic operators that have been subject to the investigation towithdraw from the Union market the products concerned that have already beenplaced or made available on the market or to remove content from an online
interface referring to the products or listings of the products concerned;(c)an order for the economic operators that have been subject to the investigation todispose of the products concerned in accordance with Article 25 or, if the parts ofthe product, which are found to be in violation of Article 3, are replaceable, anorder to dispose of the respective parts of products.

▌

Where relevant, the prohibition referred to in point (a) of this paragraph and theorder referred to in point (c) of this paragraph shall identify the parts of the
product found to be in violation of Article 3, which must be replaced in order forthe product to be placed or made available on the market or exported.

▌5.

By way of exception from paragraph 4, point (c) and where appropriate in view of
preventing disruptions of a supply chain of strategic or critical importance for theUnion, the lead competent authorities may refrain from imposing an order to dispose of
the product concerned in the decision referred to in paragraph 4. The lead competentauthorities may instead order the product concerned to be withheld for a defined periodof time, which shall be no longer than the time necessary to eliminate forced labour forthe product concerned, at the cost of the economic operators:(a)if economic operators demonstrate, during this period of time, that they haveeliminated forced labour from the supply chain of the products concerned, withoutchanging that product and by having brought to an end the forced labour as
identified in the decision referred to in paragraph 4, the lead competent authority
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(b)

if economic operators do not demonstrate, during this period of time, that they
have eliminated forced labour from the supply chain of the products concerned,
without changing that product and by having brought to an end the forced labour
as identified in the decision referred to in paragraph 4, paragraph 4, point (c) shallapply.

6.

Where the Commission acts as lead competent authority, decisions referred to inparagraph 4 shall be adopted by means of implementing acts in the form of a decision.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination
procedure referred to in Article 35(2).

7.

Lead competent authorities shall notify the final decision to all economic operators towhich it is addressed and communicate it to all competent authorities, through theinformation and communication system referred to in Article 7(1).

8.

Decisions taken pursuant to paragraph 4 by a competent authority in one Member State
shall be recognised and enforced by competent authorities in the other Member States,in so far as they relate to products with the same identification and from the same supply
chain for which forced labour has been found.
Article 21
Review of decisions adopted regarding the violation of Article 3

1.

Lead competent authorities shall provide economic operators affected by a decision
adopted pursuant to Article 20 with the possibility of requesting a review of that decisionat any time. The request for a review shall contain information which demonstrates thatthe products are placed or made available on the market or to be exported in compliancewith Article 3. That information shall contain new substantial information that was notbrought to the attention of the competent authority during the investigation.

2.

A lead competent authority shall take a decision on the request for review within 30
working days from the date of receipt of the request.

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3.

Where economic operators have demonstrated that they have complied with the decisionreferred to in Article 20, and that they have eliminated forced labour from theiroperations or supply chain with respect to the products concerned, the lead competentauthority shall withdraw its decision for the future, inform the economic operators andremove it from the Forced Labour Single Portal referred to in Article 12.

4.

Where the Commission acts as lead competent authority, the withdrawal referred to inparagraph 3 shall be implemented via an implementing act. Those implementing acts
shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article
35(2). On duly justified imperative grounds of urgency relating to the protection of rights
of defence and of property of the economic operators concerned, the Commission shalladopt immediately applicable implementing acts in accordance with the procedurereferred to in Article 35(3). Those acts shall remain in force for a period not exceeding
12 months.

5.

Economic operators that have been affected by a decision of a Member State competentauthority pursuant to this Regulation shall have access to a court or a tribunal to review
the procedural and substantive legality of the decision.

6.

Paragraph 4 shall be without prejudice to any provision of national law which requiresthat administrative review procedures be exhausted prior to recourse to judicial
proceedings.

7.

Decisions adopted by Member State competent authorities pursuant to this Regulation
are without prejudice to any decisions of a judicial nature taken by national courts ortribunals of the Member States with respect to the same economic operators or products.

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ENArticle 22Content of the decision
1.

The decision referred to in Article 20 shall contain all of the following:(a)the findings of the investigation and the information and evidence underpinning thefindings;(b)▌ reasonable time limits for the economic operators to comply with the orders,which shall not be less than 30 working days. In case of perishable goods, animals
and plants, the time limit shall not be less than 10 working days. When setting thetime limits, the lead competent authority shall take into account the economic
operator’s size and economic resources, including whether the operator is an SME,
the share of the part of the product and whether it is replaceable. The time limits
shall be proportionate to the time needed to comply with the different orders andno longer than necessary;(c)

all relevant information and in particular the details allowing the identification of the
product, to which the decision applies, including details about the manufacturer,
producer, the product suppliers and, where appropriate, production site;(d)where available and applicable, information required under customs legislation as
defined in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;(e)2.

information on the possibilities for a judicial review against a decision.

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts further specifying the details of theinformation to be included in the decisions. Those details shall as a minimum include
details of information to be provided or made available to customs authorities inaccordance with Article 27(3) to enable the identification of products requested by Article
26(4). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination
procedure pursuant to Article 35(2).

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Enforcement
Section I
Competent authorities
Article 23
Enforcement of the decisions by competent authorities
1.

Where within the reasonable time limit referred to in Article 22(1), point (b) an
economic operator has failed to comply with the decision referred to in Article 20(4), thecompetent authorities shall be responsible of the enforcement of the decision and shallensure all of the following:(a)that it is prohibited to place or make available the products concerned on theUnion market and to export them;(b)that the products concerned already placed or made available on the market arewithdrawn from the Union market by relevant authorities, in accordance with
Union and national laws;(c)that the products concerned remaining with the economic operator are disposed ofin accordance with Article 25, at the expense of the economic operator;(d)that access to the products and to listings referring to the products concerned isrestricted by requesting the relevant third party to implement such measures.

2.

If the economic operator has failed to comply with the decision, the competent authority
shall impose either directly, in cooperation with other authorities or by application to thecompetent judicial authorities, penalties on the economic operator pursuant to Article
37.

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Article 24
Withdrawal of products made with forced labour
1.

Any decision to order the withdrawal of the products already placed or made available
on the Union market and their disposal referred to in Article 20(4) shall be
communicated, through the information and communication system referred to in
Article 7(1), to the Market surveillance authorities as referred to in Article 10 ofRegulation (EU) 2019/1020 or the other authorities relevant for the product concerned.

2.

The enforcement of the withdrawal of products shall be of the responsibility of thecompetent authority, in coordination with any other relevant authorities for the productconcerned.
Article 25
Disposal of products made with forced labour

In line with the waste hierarchy set out in Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament andof the Council35, economic operators and Member States competent authorities responsible forthe disposal of products, pursuant to Article 20(4), point (c) shall dispose of the products
concerned by recycling them or, when that is not possible, by rendering those products
inoperable. In case of perishable products, the disposal shall be done by donating the products
concerned for charitable or public interest purposes or, when that is not possible, by rendering
those products inoperable.
▌

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Section II
Customs authorities
Article 26
Controls by customs authorities
1.

Products entering or leaving the Union market shall be subject to the controls and measureslaid down in this Section.

2.

The application of this Section is without prejudice to any other Union legal acts
governing customs risk management, customs controls and the release for freecirculation of goods and export, in particular Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

3.

The lead competent authority shall without delay communicate to the customs authorities
of Member States decisions to prohibit the placing or making available of the productson the Union market and their export, pursuant to Article 20(4).

4.

Customs authorities shall rely on the decisions communicated pursuant to paragraph 3 to
identify products that may not comply with the prohibition laid down in Article 3. For that
purpose, they shall carry out controls on products entering or leaving the Union market
based on risk management as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

5.

The lead competent authority shall without delay communicate to the customs authorities
of Member States any withdrawal, as well as any changes of a decision referred to in
Article 20(4) pursuant to Article 21.

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Article 27
Additional information to be provided or made available to customs authorities
1.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 33 to
supplement this Regulation by identifying the products or product groups for which theinformation referred to in paragraph 2 shall be provided to customs authorities. The
products or product group concerned shall be chosen following a proportionate
approach, building, amongst others, on the information available in the database,information encoded in the information and communication system, and substantiatedinformation exchanged in the Network.

2.

The person intending to place a product covered by a delegated act adopted pursuant toparagraph 1 of this Article under the customs procedures ‘release for free circulation’ or‘export’ shall provide or make available to customs authorities information identifying
the product, information about the manufacturer or the producer and information about
the product suppliers, unless the provision of such information is already required
pursuant to customs legislation referred to in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

3.

The Commission may adopt implementing acts specifying the detailed arrangements for
implementing paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, and defining the details of theinformation to be provided or made available to customs ▌ pursuant to paragraph 1.

4.

Those implementing acts ▌ shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedurepursuant to Article 35(2).

5.

Where a specific product has been identified in a decision referred to in Article 20(4), in
order for the customs authorities to be able to act immediately on that specific product, theprocedure provided for in Article 34 shall apply to delegated acts adopted pursuant toparagraph 1.

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Article 28
Suspension

Where customs authorities identify, through their relevant risk management system, a productentering or leaving the Union market that may, according to a decision communicated pursuant to
Article 26(3), be in violation of Article 3, they shall suspend the release for free circulation or theexport of that product. Customs authorities shall immediately notify the ▌ competent authorities of
their respective Member State of the suspension and transmit all relevant information to enable
them to establish whether the product is covered by a decision communicated pursuant to Article
26(3).
Article 29
Release for free circulation or export
1.

Where the release for free circulation or the export of a product has been suspended inaccordance with Article 28, the product shall be released for free circulation or exported
where all the other requirements and formalities relating to such a release or export havebeen fulfilled and where either of the following conditions is satisfied:(a)within 4 working days of the suspension, if the competent authorities have notrequested the customs authorities to maintain the suspension. In case of perishable
products, animals and plants that time limit shall be 2 working days;(b)

the competent authorities informed the customs authorities of their approval for
release for free circulation or export pursuant to this Regulation.

2.

The release for free circulation or export shall not be deemed proof of compliance with
Union law and, in particular, with this Regulation.

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ENArticle 30
Refusal to release for free circulation or export
1.

Where the competent authorities conclude that a product that has been notified to them inaccordance with Article 28 is a product made with forced labour pursuant to a decisionreferred to in Article 20, they shall require customs authorities not to release it for freecirculation nor to allow its export.

2.

Competent authorities shall immediately enter that information in the information andcommunication system referred to in Article 7(1) and notify the customs authorities
accordingly. Upon such notification, customs authorities shall not allow the release for freecirculation or export of that product and shall also include the following notice in thecustoms data-processing system and, where possible, on the commercial invoiceaccompanying the product and on any other relevant accompanying document:‘Product made with forced labour - release for free circulation/export not authorised Regulation (EU) …/…’ [OP to indicate reference of this Regulation].

3.

Where the release for free circulation or export of a product has been refused in accordancewith paragraph 1, customs authorities shall dispose of the product concerned ▌ inaccordance with national law in compliance with Union law. ▌4.

Upon request of a competent authority and on behalf and under the responsibility of thatcompetent authority, customs authorities may alternatively seize that product and put itat the disposal of and under the authority of that competent authority. In such cases,that competent authority shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the productconcerned is disposed of in accordance with Article 25.

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Article 31
Exchange of information and cooperation1.

To enable a risk-based analysis for products entering or leaving the Union market and toensure that controls are effective and performed in accordance with the requirements ofthis Regulation, the Commission, competent authorities and customs authorities shallcooperate closely and exchange risk-related information, in which the Commission willtake on a coordination role.

2.

Cooperation among authorities and exchange of risk-related information necessary for thefulfilment of their respective functions under this Regulation, including through electronicmeans, shall take place in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 952/2013:(a)

between customs authorities ▌ ;(b)between competent authorities and customs authorities ▌ .

Chapter VI
Final provisions
Article 32
Confidentiality
1.

The competent authorities shall only use information received pursuant to this Regulation
for the purpose of applying this Regulation, unless otherwise required by Union or
national law in compliance with Union law.▌

2.

▌The Commission, Member States and competent authorities shall treat the identity of
those who provide information, or the information provided, as confidential, in accordancewith Union or national law in compliance with Union law, unless stated otherwise by
those who provided the information ▌ .

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3.

Paragraph 2 shall not preclude the Commission from disclosing general information in asummary form, provided such general information does not contain any information whichallows the identification of the provider of the information. Such disclosure of general
information in a summary form shall take into account the legitimate interest of the parties
concerned in preventing the disclosure of confidential information.

▌
Article 33▌ Exercise of the Delegation
1.

The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to theconditions laid down in this Article.

2.

The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 27(1) shall be conferred on theCommission for an indeterminate period of time from … [date of entry force of thisRegulation].

3.

The delegation of power referred to in Article 27(1) may be revoked at any time by theEuropean Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to thedelegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the
publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later datespecified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4.

Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each
Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional
Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making36.

5.

As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to theEuropean Parliament and to the Council.

36

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6.

A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 27(1) shall enter into force only if no objection
has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of
two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if,
before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have bothinformed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by twomonths at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
Article 34
Urgency procedure

1.

Delegated acts adopted under this Article shall enter into force without delay and shallapply as long as no objection is expressed in accordance with paragraph 2. The notificationof a delegated act to the European Parliament and to the Council shall state the reasons forthe use of the urgency procedure.

2.

Either the European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act in accordancewith the procedure referred to in Article 33(6). In such a case, the Commission shall repeal
the act immediately following the notification of the decision to object by the European
Parliament or by the Council.
Article 35
Committee procedure

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee
within the meaning of ▌ Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shallapply.

3.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011,
in conjunction with Article 5 thereof, shall apply.

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Amendment to Directive (EU) 2019/1937
In Part I.C.1 of the Annex to Directive (EU) 2019/1937, the following point is added:‘(iv)

Regulation (EU) …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... onprohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market and amending
Directive (EU) 2019/1937.’.
Article 37
Penalties

1.

▌ Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to non-compliance with adecision referred to in Article 20 and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they
are implemented in accordance with national law.

2.

The penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Competentauthorities shall ensure that the penalties referred to in paragraph 1 give due regard to
the following, as applicable:(a)the gravity and duration of the infringement;(b)

any relevant previous infringements by the economic operator;(c)the degree of cooperation with the competent authorities;(d)any other mitigating or aggravating factor applicable to the circumstances of thecase, such as financial benefits gains, or losses avoided, directly or indirectly, fromthe infringement.

3.

▌ Member States shall, by ... [24 months from the date of entry into force of thisRegulation], notify ▌ the Commission of those rules and of those measures, and shallnotify it, without delay, of any subsequent amendment affecting them.

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4.

Member States, when laying down rules on applicable penalties in accordance withparagraphs 1 and 2, shall take utmost account of the guidance referred to in Article 11.
Article 38
Evaluation and review

1.

By 2 years after the start of the application of this Regulation and every 5 years
thereafter, the Commission shall carry out an evaluation of the enforcement and theimplementation of the Regulation. The Commission shall present a report on the main
findings to the European Parliament, the Council and to the European Economic andSocial Committee. The evaluation shall in particular include an assessment of:(a)whether the mechanism in place effectively contributes to the objectives of theRegulation, as set out in Article 1, namely the elimination of products made withforced labour from the internal market and the contribution to fight forced labour;(b)the cooperation between competent authorities, including within the Network, aswell as all other relevant authorities in applying the Regulation;(c)the effectiveness of international cooperation to contribute to the elimination offorced labour from global supply chains;(d)the impact on businesses, and in particular on SMEs, including on theircompetitiveness of the procedures related to the investigations and decisions;(e)the cost of compliance for economic operators, and in particular for SMEs;(f)the overall cost-benefit and effectiveness of the prohibition.

Where the Commission finds it appropriate, the report shall be accompanied by alegislative proposal for amendment of the relevant provisions of this Regulation.

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2.

The report shall also assess whether the scope should be enlarged to include services
ancillary to the extraction, harvesting, production or manufacturing of products.

3.

As part of the assessment under paragraph 1, point (a), the report shall cover the impactof the Regulation on victims of forced labour, with particular regard to the situation of
women and children. The assessment of this impact shall be based on regularmonitoring of information from international organisations and relevant stakeholders.

4.

In its report, the Commission shall further assess the need for a specific mechanism toaddress and remediate forced labour, including an impact assessment for the
implementation of such a mechanism.
Article 39
Entry into force and date of application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official
Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from ... [36 months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation].

However, Articles 5(3), 7, 8, 9(2), 11, 33, 34, 35 and 37(3) shall apply from ... [date of entry into
force of this Regulation].

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at ...,For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

The President

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