Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Import of Products of Forced Labour from Xinjiang (Prohibition) Bill 2021–22; and whether they plan to ban products of forced labour from Xinjiang.
The Government has serious concerns about the situation in Xinjiang. Robust action has been taken to help ensure that no British organisations are profiting from or are contributing to human rights violations in Xinjiang. We have, amongst other actions, introduced guidance on the risks of doing business in Xinjiang, led a ministerial campaign of business engagement to reinforce the need for UK business to act and have announced our intention to introduce financial penalties for businesses that do not comply with their transparency obligations under the Modern Slavery Act. Import bans are one of a range of tools that could be used to tackle forced labour in global supply chains, and we continue to keep this policy response under close review.