Anti-Slavery International: How to address state-imposed forced labour in accordance with international responsible business standards

May 2025

Article orginally published by Anti-Slavery International at https://www.antislavery.org/reports/how-to-address-state-imposed-forced-labour-in-accordance-with-international-responsible-business-standards/

Introduction 

Under international responsible business standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct (OECD Guidelines), and the ILO Declaration on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights and to conduct appropriate due diligence to assess, prevent, mitigate, and remedy adverse human rights impacts, including forced labour.  

These non-binding standards are reinforced by the new mandatory due diligence frameworks that are emerging in jurisdictions across the world, particularly the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Alignment with these standards is thus a growing imperative. 

State-imposed forced labour, which takes place when governments force people to work, is often present in global supply chains. It has distinct implications for businesses, including the lack of business leverage to change forced labour practices, and the inability to conduct safe and credible due diligence on the ground. In these cases, full and immediate disengagement from affected industries in regions where state-imposed forced labour takes place is necessary to meet responsible business standards. Companies should also recognise that continued sourcing from and involvement in state-imposed forced labour likely supports the upholding of these systems of abuse and perpetuates the status quo. 

This factsheet summarises Anti-Slavery International’s recommendations on how to effectively address state-imposed forced labour under responsible business standards. It is the result of years of collaboration with partners and practitioners that seek to address state-imposed forced labour, particularly with the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region and the Cotton Campaign. 

This factsheet is broken down into two sections:  

• Factsheet One: What is state-imposed forced labour and the implications for business  
  Factsheet One is to support all readers to better understand what state-imposed forced labour is, how the nature of state-imposed forced labour creates specific implications for responsible business conduct, and how to apply the UNGPs and OECD Guidelines in this context. 

• Factsheet Two: Considering state-imposed forced labour in due diligence processes  
  Factsheet Two is to support business practitioners to take into consideration the implications of state-imposed forced labour when designing and implementing due diligence processes under international standards. Additionally, the factsheet also outlines the implications of relevant EU legislation, namely the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (noting that in February 2025, a significant revision of the text was proposed and is currently being considered), and the EU Regulation Prohibiting Products Made with Forced Labour on the Union Market.