Ursula von der Leyen
© dpaProposal to be made public just before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's annual State of the Union address next week.
In a move that could cause new fissures in already fraught trade ties with China, the European Commission is set to propose banning products involving forced labour from being sold in the single market.

But Brussels' pitch next week will adopt a dramatically different approach to the United States in the blocking of such goods, due to concerns about breaching World Trade Organization rules and over appearing to directly target Beijing.

The European Union ban would not be location specific, and would apply to goods made both inside and outside the bloc, according to officials involved in the planning.

Washington, by contrast, has banned all goods from the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, unless importers can prove the products did not involve forced labour. Businesses say that standard is almost impossible to meet.

Technocrats in Brussels point to forced labour within the EU - and everywhere else in the world - to emphasise that there is no single target.

Nonetheless, the EU's measures will seek to address the issue of goods and supplies from Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of instituting a network of coercive labour.


Comment: It has been definitively proven by this point that these claims of forced labour and work camps are Western propaganda.

One particularly revealing policy that has been in effect for decades in China, is that, amidst the 'one-child' policy for the Han population, Uyghur were permitted to have up to 3 children - hardly the actions of a genocidal nation - however, notably, as living conditions continue to improve for the Uyghur, along with the rest of China, even they are seeing a decline in birth rates.


Officials say their proposed risk-based model that flags goods from regions or sectors suspected to involve such practices will inevitably send alarm bells ringing about products made in China.

"It's clear that Xinjiang will have a special place in this, because it's clear that there is a risk," said one senior EU official involved in the drafting.

"So it would be very strange if the competent authorities would not take that as one of the flashpoints ... if they see that an economic operator is importing goods from Xinjiang, that should be definitely on their watch list."

UN human rights body says China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang

Beijing has consistently denied allegations about human rights abuses in the region, with the foreign ministry saying "there has never been forced labour in Xinjiang".

The commission's proposal does not go as far as the European Parliament's demands for an outright import ban on all goods found to be made using forced labour, including a straight-up, US-style ban on goods made in Xinjiang.

However, officials hope outlawing the sale of all products made using suspected forced labour rather than their import would rid the EU market of tainted goods without flouting global trade rules.

"This is why we couldn't take the US approach, which is basically targeting imports only and targeting actually the imports of one country," an official said.

Under the proposal, the EU's 27 member states would be required to establish and fund "competent authorities" for catching goods suspected of using forced labour.

These goods could be singled out through submissions from external parties, like non-governmental organisations or other businesses from inside or outside Europe, or via a central EU public database that flags products and regions likely to have forced labour.


Comment: It sounds like the beginning of an economic war on China all under the guise of 'human rights'.


This database would be public, but the EU would not name the entities identified in individual cases.

Under the proposal, once a suspicion has been raised, a preliminary investigation would ensue, followed by a more substantial appraisal that could include inspections of facilities in third countries.

At this point local authorities must decide whether the goods should be withdrawn from the market. Goods at hand would be confiscated, while customs authorities would be "immediately notified of the decision" and instructed to "stop these products at the border and suspend their circulation", officials said.

For example, if a solar panel was found to contain polysilicon linked to forced labour - an alleged issue in Xinjiang that worries Western policymakers - the finished panels themselves would be banned, although those already sold to the end buyer would not be confiscated.

"I don't think we can start going across the EU and climbing on roofs and taking off solar panels," said an EU source.

If a government or company does not authorise the European authority to make an inspection, the authority can come to a conclusion based on the evidence at hand.

"They don't have to have a smoking gun, just enough evidence and information to determine whether they can confidently say, 'OK, there is forced labour in this product and therefore, I have to stop it'," they added.


Comment: So this new authority won't have to irrefutably prove these products are made using forced labour.


The proposal does not suggest further punishment for companies on either side of the trade, nor is there a corporate blacklist.

Instead, the commission hopes the reputational risks of being associated with modern slavery and the financial cost of having products confiscated and banned from European shelves would be deterrent enough.

It would, however, pile pressure on EU businesses operating in Xinjiang, with scrutiny already intensifying following the recent UN report on the human rights situation there, said Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

"Although European companies operating in Xinjiang have carried out thorough due diligence throughout their entire supply networks, they are unable to conduct independent, third-party audits of their operations so that they can be certified as being fully compliant with global legislation," Wuttke said.

"Until this is addressed, they will face mounting pressure to relocate their operations away from the region."

European lawmakers, particularly on the political left, may take some convincing that the plan goes far enough.

"I have been calling for an EU ban of products made by forced labour, similar to the one existing in the US. Thus, it is a great success that the commission finally proposes an instrument," said Anna Cavazzini, a Green Party member of the European Parliament who has pushed multiple resolutions on the practice.

"The commission's proposal is an important first step, but it seems like there will still be room for improvement."

The commission planned to release the proposal just before President Ursula von der Leyen's annual State of the Union address next week. Last year, she used the speech to announce the creation of such a ban, to the surprise of many - even her own officials.

This set off an internal battle among EU departments determined not to be tasked with developing an instrument they knew would be politically and administratively difficult.

The compromise was to include goods made inside and outside the EU, so that the file could be shared among the directorates governing the internal market and external trade. An added bonus: it would not be obviously directed at China.


Comment: Well, it sounds vague enough that it could be used to target any and all of the EU establishment's competition.


The proposal's authors said they "looked attentively" at last week's UN report which accused China of "serious human rights violations" in Xinjiang, including in the area of forced labour.

But they said the report "corroborated" information they were already dealing with, rather than causing a shift in approach.

The document will provide a starting point for what are expected to be arduous negotiations with the European Parliament and the European Council, comprising officials and diplomats from member states. Each body will internally negotiate its own text, then enter into "trilogue" talks with each other and the commission, in a legislative process that could take years.

It could also provoke a reaction from Beijing, which this week spoke out against what it considered to be "protectionist" measures being developed in Europe.

Sabine Weyand, the EU's director general for trade, said this week they were "close to concluding" an anti-coercion instrument aimed at preventing economic bullying. It will add to laws tackling foreign subsidies, market access for procurement, and foreign investment screening seen to target China, she said.

The most senior Chinese diplomat in the EU, interim chargé d'affaires Wang Hongjian, warned that the bloc could not expect to cooperate with China on issues like climate change if it was confronting it elsewhere.

"Green cooperation can't be promoted in a vacuum," Wang said in Brussels on Wednesday.

Human rights advocates, meanwhile, hope the commission's proposal will be beefed up during negotiations to prevent the EU from becoming a "dumping ground" for products made with forced labour, including from China.

"The EU has a real opportunity to draft a trailblazing policy," said Helene de Rengerve, senior EU adviser at Anti-Slavery International.

"We hope they will walk the talk and truly attempt to eliminate forced labour, not only the products made through it."