The EU is now one bit closer to enacting a prohibition on the sale of any products made with the use of forced labor. This comes after the European Commission released a draft proposal outlining the move on Wednesday.
Forced Labor Needs to End
Although officials emphasized the restriction will not specifically target any one business or sector, the campaign for additional laws on the subject is primarily perceived as a reaction to Communist China’s suspected use of slave labor among minorities.
The proposed prohibition, according to a news release issued by the European Union, would apply to goods made both within and outside the EU. It would address both private and governmental forced labor without favoring any one business or industry.
As promised, they are fighting against forced labor.
#China Communist Party Uyghur genocide in #xinjhang like Nazi Holocaust features millions in forced or slave labour and means most #EU solar panels use components/materials from there making us complicit #MagnitskyAct #UyghurGenocide @vonderleyen https://t.co/YuTWRDjlEv
— Ronan L Tynan (@RonanLTynan) February 12, 2021
Today, the EU Commission puts up a new proposal to exclude from the marketplace any goods produced, collected, or harvested using forced labor.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the trade tsar for the European Commission, said the prohibition “will contribute to a significant difference in addressing slavery and human trafficking, which impacts millions of people all over the world.”
The EU’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, condemned the “unsustainability” of items made using forced labor.
The politician, who earlier threatened to expel Twitter from the EU, should Elon Musk reduce the level of restrictions on the platform, said the following:
“Our single market is a decisive asset to help stop items manufactured with forced labor from going around in the EU. It is a handle to encourage sustainable development across the entire planet.”
BREAKING:
36 civil society organisations are calling on the EU to force China to end slave labour and add enforceable human rights clauses to the EU-China Investment Agreement (CAI)@_EuropeanValues Center is proud to be part of this movement:https://t.co/lqG7o3txUt
— Jakub Janda 楊雅嚳 (@_JakubJanda) January 13, 2021
While senior officials in the European Union stressed these actions are not directed at any particular company or industry, they have been less outspoken about whether or not a particular nation is the driving force behind the introduction of new restrictions.
This could be attributed to the fact that one state, in particular, did inspire interest in the prohibition. According to Politico, the new regulations are perceived as a reaction to Communist China’s use of slave labor to produce a variety of items.
Minorities Oppressed in the Xinjiang Province
Particular criticism has been directed at the leftist government’s treatment of Uyghurs, a Muslim-majority ethnic minority from the Xinjiang province.
A United Nations report released late last month gave further creditability to findings that since 2018, local minorities have been coerced into working in numerous factories.
According to the report, it is accurate that large swaths of Xinjiang’s populace have been arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities.
It is probable that these actions led to the torture of Uyghurs and other members of ethnic minorities under the pretext of fighting extremism.
Although the EU’s proposed legislation may indicate it wants to take a tougher stance on this matter, the bloc has historically been rather lenient regarding claims of rights abuses in Xinjiang.
According to reports, authorities even permitted EU companies to sell surveillance systems to China, a few of which might have been used to empower state officials to continue abusing human rights.
