On 26 June 2026, the European Commission published its long-awaited guidelines on the application of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market (the “Guidelines”), available here. The Guidelines are intended to help businesses prepare for the EU Forced Labour Regulation (the “Regulation”), which will become applicable on 14 December 2027.
The Regulation introduces a broad prohibition on placing, making available, or exporting products made with forced labour on or from the EU market. Therefore, economic operators will be responsible for ensuring that products entering and leaving the EU market are not tainted by forced labour. Further information on the Regulation itself, including the investigatory authority of the European Commission and the national competent authorities of EU Member States (“NCAs”), can be found in our previous blog post here. While the Regulation itself established the legal framework, many practical questions remained unanswered until the publication of the Guidelines.
The more than 70-page Guidelines provide important insight into how authorities intend to assess risks, conduct investigations, enforce prohibitions, and engage with economic operators. They also clarify the role of customs authorities and set out the European Commission’s expectations regarding supply chain due diligence. Although the Guidelines are non-binding, they provide the clearest indication yet of how the Regulation is expected to operate in practice. Below, we highlight some of the key takeaways.
Clarifying the scope of the prohibition
The Guidelines confirm that the Regulation has an exceptionally broad scope. It applies to all products, regardless of their origin, sector or type, that are placed or made available on the EU market or exported from it and to all economic operators. A product may fall within scope where forced labour was used in whole or in part and at any stage of extraction, harvesting, production, manufacturing or processing, regardless of where in the world the forced labour occurred. Even where only a small component of a finished product was produced with forced labour, the entire product may be affected. The concept of a “product” extends beyond manufactured goods and includes agricultural products, minerals and other raw materials. The Regulation also applies to products sold through online and distance sales channels where those offers are directed at EU consumers.
Importantly, the Regulation applies to all products that are placed or made available on the EU market from 14 December 2027 onwards, including products that may have been produced or imported into the EU before that date but are still held in warehouses or otherwise remain available on the market.
The Guidelines further elaborate on the concept of forced labour. The Regulation adopts the definition contained in International Labour Organization (“ILO”) Convention No. 29, under which forced labour exists where three elements are present: (i) work or service, (ii) lack of voluntary consent, and (iii) coercion. The Guidelines now provide detailed explanations and examples of these concepts and confirm that the Regulation covers privately imposed forced labour, state-imposed forced labour (“SIFL“) and forced child labour. The Commission also identifies a range of forced labour indicators, including deceptive recruitment practices, debt bondage, hazardous working conditions, excessive working hours, withholding of wages or identity documents, restrictions on movement, threats, intimidation and abuse of vulnerability. For suspected SIFL cases, authorities may additionally consider factors such as surveillance, detention, state-induced coercion and denial of state services.
The Guidelines further explain that while services are mentioned in the ILO definition, the Regulation is limited to products made with forced labour.
The risk-based enforcement approach
Before a product can be prohibited from the EU market, a competent authority must conduct an investigation and adopt a formal decision. The European Commission generally acts as the lead competent authority where the suspected forced labour occurs outside the EU, while NCA assumes that role where the alleged forced labour occurs within the EU. The purpose of an investigation is twofold: to establish whether the forced labour prohibition has been violated and, if so, to determine the appropriate enforcement measures. Notably, investigations focus on the specific products allegedly made with forced labour and the relevant parts of the supply chain, rather than the economic operator’s business as a whole.
One of the most important parts of the Guidelines is the explanation of how authorities will prioritize cases. Authorities are not expected to investigate every allegation. Instead, they will apply a risk-based approach and focus on cases where enforcement is likely to have the greatest impact.
When assessing the risk associated with a particular product, the lead competent authority considers the following three criteria:
- The scale and severity of suspected forced labour;
- Quantity or volume of the products placed or made available on the EU market; and
- Share of the part of the product suspected to have been made with forced labour in the final product.
In addition, the lead competent authority considers the following criteria to assess which economic operators to focus on:
- Proximity to the alleged forced labour and leverage;
- Size and economic resources of economic operators; and
- Complexity of the supply chain.
In carrying out this assessment, authorities may rely on information from a variety of sources, including complaints, submissions through the EU information submission mechanism, civil society organizations, trade unions, workers, public authorities and the future EU Forced Labour Risk Database.
The investigation process
The Guidelines provide detailed guidance on the investigative process, which generally consists of a preliminary phase, a formal investigation and a final decision
- Preliminary phase
The aim of the preliminary phase is to gather more information from economic operators and other actors, in order for lead competent authorities to determine whether there is a ‘substantiated concern’ that the forced labour ban has been violated. During this phase, the lead competent authority may request information from economic operators about their due diligence and compliance procedures, measures taken to identify, prevent and mitigate forced labour risks, supply chain information relevant to the products under review and any evidence demonstrating that the products were not made with forced labour. Note that the Guidelines emphasize that the Regulation does not impose a formal due diligence obligation and that the competent authorities should also bear this in mind during the investigations. Nevertheless, documented due diligence efforts can be valuable evidence during the investigation. Authorities may also consider alternative compliance tools, such as product traceability systems, certification schemes, and worker monitoring mechanisms. In addition, the lead competent authority may also request information from other product suppliers where relevant for the preliminary assessment.
Authorities may decide not to contact the company at this stage where doing so could jeopardize the investigation, for example because evidence may disappear or victims could be exposed to retaliation.
Following the preliminary phase, authorities must decide whether there is a substantiated concern, based on objective, factual and verifiable information, that the product is likely to have been made with forced labour (and whether to launch a formal investigation). The authorities have 30 working days from the day of receipt of the information of the economic operator under investigation to establish whether there is a substantiated concern that the forced labour ban has been violated by the economic operator. If no substantiated concern exists, the matter is closed.
- Formal investigation
Where a substantiated concern exists, a formal investigation must be opened. Authorities may request extensive information from economic operators and other stakeholders, including suppliers, workers, trade unions, NGOs and local communities. Economic operators typically have between 30 and 60 working days to respond to information requests. Authorities may also carry out inspections. Within the EU, this may include inspections of business premises in accordance with national law. Outside the EU, the European Commission may conduct inspections where both the relevant economic operator and the host country authorities consent.
The Guidelines repeatedly emphasize the importance of cooperation. Economic operators are expected to provide complete, accurate and timely information. Failure to cooperate may adversely affect the authority’s assessment and may contribute to a finding that the forced labour prohibition has been violated.
- Outcome of the investigation
Following the investigation, the authority will either close the case if it cannot establish a violation or adopt a decision finding that the product was made with forced labour.
A finding of forced labour results in a prohibition on placing, making available, or exporting the relevant products from the EU market. The prohibition applies not only to the economic operators named in the decision, but to any operator placing or exporting the affected products. The decision also requires the withdrawal and disposal of the products and must provide a compliance deadline of at least 30 working days for non-perishable goods and 10 working days for perishable goods. As a general rule, investigations should be completed within nine months of being opened, although decisions remain subject to review and appeal procedures.
Enforcement at the EU border and penalties
The Guidelines devote considerable attention to the role of customs authorities, which will be central to the practical enforcement of the Regulation.
Once a decision has been adopted, it is communicated through the Information and Communication System for Market Surveillance (“ICSMS”). Customs authorities will use this information to identify products subject to a prohibition decision. Note that the Regulation applies only to products declared for the customs procedures of release for free circulation and export. Products placed under other customs procedures are not subject to the Regulation’s border controls. Where customs authorities identify products that may be covered by a prohibition decision, they may suspend the release of the goods and consult the relevant competent authority. Customs authorities are expected to rely on information contained in the decision, including details relating to the product, supplier, manufacturer and supply chain, to identify affected shipments.
Following consultation with the competent authority, customs authorities may:
- release the goods where they are not covered by the decision;
- refuse release for free circulation or export;
- seize the goods; or
- supervise their disposal where required by the decision.
The Guidelines therefore position customs authorities as key gatekeepers responsible for ensuring that products subject to a forced labour prohibition cannot enter or leave the EU market.
The Guidelines also address penalties for businesses that fail to comply with a ban decision. EU Member States must establish effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, which may include significant financial sanctions. When calculating penalties, authorities may for example consider the gravity and duration of the non-compliance, the value of the products concerned or the operator’s turnover and whether the non-compliance was intentional or negligent. Importantly, the Guidelines indicate that poor cooperation with authorities may constitute an aggravating factor, while proactive cooperation may be treated as a mitigating circumstance.
The European Commission further clarifies that proceedings under the Regulation are without prejudice to criminal investigations and prosecutions. Accordingly, a forced labour case may lead to both administrative measures under the Regulation and criminal sanctions under applicable national legislation, subject to the limits imposed by the ne bis in idem principle.
Due diligence
Although the EU Forced Labour Regulation does not impose a mandatory due diligence obligation, the Guidelines makes clear that effective due diligence can help companies identify and address forced labour risks and may be important evidence during an investigation. The Guidelines are based on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) and United Nations human rights due diligence frameworks and encourage companies to adopt a risk-based and proportionate approach, taking into account their size, resources, products and supply chains. The Guidelines effectively establish the OECD six-step framework as the benchmark for what authorities may regard as good practice in managing forced labour risks throughout global supply chains:
- Integrate forced labour due diligence into company policies and risk management systems
- Identify and assess forced labour risks in the company’s operations, supply chains and business relationships
- Prevent, mitigate and bring to an end forced labour risks
- Monitor and assess implementation and results
- Communicate how risks are addressed
- Provide or cooperate in remediation
The Guidelines also emphasize the importance of engaging with workers, trade unions, NGOs and other stakeholders when assessing and addressing risks.
What should businesses do now?
Although the Regulation only applies as from 14 December 2027, the Guidelines send a clear signal that authorities expect businesses to begin preparing well in advance. The publication of the Guidelines represents an important milestone in the implementation of the Regulation. While many operational elements, including the forced labour risk database and information systems, are still under development, the European Commission has now provided businesses with a much clearer roadmap of how enforcement is expected to work in practice. For companies operating complex global supply chains, now is the time to assess readiness and close potential compliance gaps before the new regime becomes fully operational.
