Effectiveness of forced labour import bans
Monday 17 February 2025, 12.30pm UK time.
Dr Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
About the event
Forced labour import bans have been increasingly high on the international agenda recently, with an increasing number of bans in place at different stages of implementation. For example, the European Union Forced Labour Regulation was adopted in 2024 and will start applying from 2027. In 2023 Mexico introduced a forced labour import ban law and in 2022 Canada introduced forced labour import ban provisions into its existing legislation, whilst the US added the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act which targets the state-imposed forced labour in the Uyghur Region in China to complement its forced labour import prohibition contained in section 307 of the US Tariff Act of 1930.
The Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC will soon publish a policy briefing analysing the available evidence on the effectiveness of forced labour import bans. The briefing is the Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC’s second briefing on this subject, previously published in 2021, updated with the more recent evidence.
In this lunchtime seminar, the author of the analysis Sofia Gonzalez de Aguinaga from the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), who leads the Modern Slavery PEC's research work on business and modern slavery, will talk about the findings of her research on the effectiveness of the import bans implemented around the world so far and the lessons that the UK and other governments can learn from the implementation of these tools so far.
Modern Slavery PEC lunchtime seminar series
At the Modern Slavery PEC we believe in increasing the understanding of modern slavery, particularly through promoting the latest robust and relevant evidence in a way that is accessible to everyone.
This is why we have started a series of monthly lunchtime seminars, at which modern slavery researchers can share their latest findings with a diverse audience - everyone is welcome! The format is deliberately accessible and concise: no more than 15 minutes to present, followed by questions and discussion. Each seminar will last no longer than 45 minutes (unless there are lots of questions), which we hope will fit nicely into your lunch break!
We’ll be asking researchers who present to explain their findings in plain language that non-experts can easily understand, focusing on the real-world implications of their work and potential for impact on policy or practice, and, above all, on people and communities affected by modern slavery.
The seminars are open to anyone to join – you don’t have to be a researcher yourself. We encourage everyone interested to come along.
For those who can't make it, we will record the presentations and publish them on our YouTube channel and as short podcasts.
