Brussels, 5 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The outline of a new regulation banning products made with forced labour was agreed by European Union lawmakers during the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The draft law would require member states to investigate products - whether imported or made in the EU - when there is a risk they were made with forced labour.

Should one member state's investigators conclude that a product was indeed made with forced labour, a decision to ban the sale, import and export of the product would apply to all 27 countries of the EU.

Tuesday's deal was struck between negotiators for the European Parliament and the Belgian government, acting on behalf of all EU member states.

Some technical details of the legislation will still need to be worked out in further talks between parliamentary assistants and Belgian diplomats.

Once that's done, the draft will be sent to senior diplomats from all member states. If they approve, the bill must then pass a vote in the parliament's internal market and trade committees.

It will then be reviewed and polished by the EU's specialized lawyer-linguists before being put to a final vote in the European Parliament and in the Council of the EU, where national ministers vote on behalf of their member states.

Photo: MIA archive