The Environmental Justice Foundation has joined 75 other organisations to urge the European Parliament to adopt regulation prohibiting products made through forced labour entering the EU market.
The International Labour Organisation’s latest report suggests a staggering US$63.9 billion in illegal profits are generated globally from forced labour exploitation per year, a crime which impacts 27.6 million people globally.
The EU is proposing regulation which will prevent European consumers from inadvertently buying products tainted with forced labour, protect companies from the unfair trading practices of competitors who exploit their workers and strengthen an interlocking net of international protections against the import of goods made with forced labour.
A provisional regulation has been proposed with a strong majority (62 out of 67 MEPs) in the Joint Committee on International Trade and Internal Market and Consumer Protection voting in favour on 20 March, opening the way to a vote in plenary.
EJF and the 75 other civil society organisations, trade unions, investors, businesses, and industry bodies are now calling on members of the European Parliament to vote in favour of the agreed text in the upcoming plenary session.
