MEPs question Commission on forced and child labor in EU supply chains

Brussels, February 21, 2023 - Francisco Guerreiro MEP, along with other colleagues, sent a letter to the European Commission asking for clarification on the targets achieved in reducing forced labor and child labor in EU supply chains by 2025.


Read the letter below:


Subject: Reducing forced labor and child labor in EU supply chains by 2025
At the G7 Summit in Elmau, the EU committed to eliminating forced labor and child labor in supply chains1. This commitment is linked to Member States' obligations to respect, protect and defend human and children's rights.
The EU is also committed to achieving target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end child labor in all its forms by 2025. The goal includes promoting strategic and comprehensive interventions that address the root causes of child labor in value chains.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

In the US, the Department of Labor keeps a list of goods and their countries of origin that it believes have been produced by child labor or forced labor, in violation of international standards2.Can the Commission:1. clarify the percentage reduction of forced labor and child labor in EU supply chains since 2015 and what progress has been made towards achieving SDG target 8.7?

2. confirm whether there is a roadmap indicating where and by what percentage child labor and forced labor has been reduced in order to end all forms of child labor by 2025?
3. clarify whether it intends to create a list (similar to that of the US Department of Labor) as an important resource for researchers, companies and consumers wishing to exercise due diligence on labor rights in their supply chains?

1 https://www.g7germany.de/resource/blob/974430/2062292/9c213e6b4b36ed1bd687e82480040399/2022-07-14-leaders-communique-data.pdf?download=1https://www.g7germany.de/resource/blob/974430/2062292/9c213e6b4b36ed1bd687e82480040399/2022-07-14-leaders-communique-data.pdf?download=1
2 https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods?combine=&field_exp_exploitation_type_target_id_1=All&tid=All&field_exp_good_target_id=All&items_per_page=10&order=name&sort=asc&page=37


Read the Commission's response below:

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