New Delhi, July 14: The government has amended the foreign trade policy to prohibit the import of goods produced using forced labour, amid a US investigation into forced labour practices in 60 countries, including India.
Amending the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, the DGFT has inserted a paragraph that reads: “The import of goods produced or manufactured, wholly or in part, through the use of forced labour is prohibited”, according to a gazette notification dated July 13.
The government notification has not immediately banned any products or imports from specific countries. Instead, it empowers the government to prohibit identified goods through future notifications following investigations by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
The provisions of the notification shall come into effect after the expiry of 30 days from the date of its publication in the official gazette, it stated.
The development has come amid the US Trade Representative (USTR) undertaking Section 301 investigations against 60 economies, including India, over concerns related to forced labour. The USTR has alleged that these countries have failed to enforce import bans on goods made with forced labour.
On June 3, the US proposed to impose 12.5 per cent tariffs on 54 countries, including India, for allegedly failing to prohibit the import of goods produced with forced labour..
Six countries, Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan, would face an additional 10 per cent import duty as they have introduced domestic measures to prohibit imports made with forced labour.
According to the DGFT notification, the central government can issue a notification at any time to ban the import of specific goods if it finds, based on an inquiry or any other relevant evidence, that those goods have been produced using forced labour.
The procedure for conducting an enquiry by the DGFT into the use of forced labour in the production of such goods will be as prescribed in the Handbook of Procedures, 2023. (PTI)
