The European Parliament has approved sweeping new rules designed to stamp out products tainted with forced labour from the EU market.
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00:00 The EU is attempting to eradicate forced labour from European markets.
00:06 Under new rules backed by a majority of lawmakers,
00:10 products made using forced labour will be banned.
00:14 That includes goods made in the bloc with materials produced abroad.
00:19 The new regulation allows national authorities or the European Commission
00:24 to investigate products with suspected links to forced labour
00:28 and seize them at the borders.
00:30 If you take into account that around 27.6 million people
00:35 are a victim of forced labour in the world,
00:38 then this really means that we need to fight forced labour.
00:41 These are serious human rights violations.
00:43 And what happened today is that also the European Parliament said
00:47 we will stop allowing products made out of forced labour on the internal market.
00:53 This will strengthen our market.
00:55 This will protect companies. This will protect consumers.
00:58 But mainly it will protect human lives.
01:01 Products involving forced labour will be donated, recycled or destroyed.
01:08 The International Labour Organization says at least 28 million people
01:14 are involved in modern day slavery, including 3 million children.
01:18 The rules apply to products manufactured anywhere in the world.
01:22 However, China appears to be the main target.
01:25 There will be a list of high risk areas and sectors.
01:30 And indeed an indicator is the state imposed forced labour.
01:34 This is what we find in China. This is what we find in Xinjiang,
01:38 where we find so many Uyghur people being violated in their rights.
01:44 And this is exactly what needs to stop.
01:46 A recent report found links between dozens of major European clothing brands
01:51 and forced labour in detention camps in China.
01:55 If approved by all 27 member states, the changes will begin in 2027.
02:02 [Whoosh]