Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel on 23 September (HL7967), what plans they have to introduce legislation to ban imports of all goods (1) mined, (2) produced, and (3) manufactured, in Xinjiang, unless proven by clear and convincing evidence that goods were not produced using forced labour.

HM Government has serious concerns about the situation in Xinjiang, with reports of the use of forced labour. It has always been the case that, where we have concerns, we raise them – as we did on this issue at the UN Human Rights Council, most recently in September.

We advise businesses with supply chain links in Xinjiang to conduct appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, or risk being seen to be supporting, any violations or abuses of rights and responsibilities. However, we do not currently have plans to ban imports from Xinjiang.