To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 9 June on the human rights situation in Xinjiang; and, in particular, the call “to propose an import ban on all products produced by forced labour and on products produced by all Chinese companies listed as exploiting forced labour”, and to implement “an ambitious corporate sustainability due diligence directive”.
Answered on
15 November 2022
We are aware of the resolution passed by the European Parliament on 9 June regarding the human rights situation in Xinjiang. We continue to closely monitor the evidence of widespread human rights violations in Xinjiang, including forced labour, and in response have taken robust action. Over the last year we have provided new guidance to UK companies on the risks of doing business in Xinjiang, introduced enhanced export controls, and committed to introduce financial penalties for organisations that do not comply with modern slavery reporting requirements. The Procurement Bill will further strengthen the ability of public sector bodies to disqualify suppliers from bidding for contracts where they have a history of misconduct, including forced labour or modern slavery. We continue to keep our policy response under review.