Building on the ‘Civil Society Statement on the Proposed Regulation on Prohibiting Products Made With Forced Labour on the Union Market’, the Fair Trade movement underlays its recommendations on how to strengthen the Proposed Regulation.

1. Address the root causes of forced labour, inter alia, through due diligence requirements and accompanying measures. Forced labour is typically rooted in exploitation, poverty, prices that do not cover the costs of (sustainable) production, and the lack of living incomes and living wages.
2. Explicitly cover purchasing practices as a key factor affecting the occurrence of forced labour, recognising that unfair and exploitative practices often lead to human and labour rights abuses.
   
   
3. Ensure a fair sharing of compliance costs, recognising that forced labour is an outcome of unfair supply chain practices, regardless of where in the chain forced labour is found to occur.
   
   
4. Include obligations for responsible and inclusive disengagement, as a last resort. Ensuring that no further harm is done to affected people (formal and informal workers).