In UK, Senior Labour MP Calls for Law to Tackle Uyghur Forced Labor

Liam Byrne during his speech to the Fabian Society conference in central London on Jan. 20, 2024. Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire

The UK should introduce its own version of the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), said Labour Party’s former minister Liam Byrne.

Byrne, elected last week as the chair of the Business and Trade Committee, called on the Labour government to tighten rules on supply chain reporting—a promise he said the Conservative government has failed to deliver.

“I'd like to see the new government follow through on the promise made—but never delivered—by the Conservatives in the 2022 Queens Speech—to strengthen the modern slavery act and toughen up requirements on supply chain reporting,” Byrne said, adding that doing so will re-establish the UK’s leadership of trusted trade.

Under the UFLPA, all goods that come wholly or partly from China’s Xinjiang region or made by an entity on the UFLPA Entity List are presumed to be forced labor products and banned from entering the United States, and the onus is on the importers to prove their shipments are not in violation of the act.

Campaigners have previously called on lawmakers to close the gap between British and U.S. legislation, saying it has turned the UK into a “dumping ground“ of Uyghur forced labor products.

Byrne was among several senior MPs who called for more scrutiny when Chinese e-commerce giant Shein—one of the companies accused of selling products made of cotton from Xinjiang—reportedly submitted documents to the London Stock Exchange for a potential London listing in June.

Byrne said his personal priority is to summon Shein executives to appear before the Business and Trade Committee, though the full committee is yet to be elected.

Asked about the issue days after the general election in July, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he would welcome Shein listing in the UK, and said no listed company in the UK “should have any kind of forced labour in its supply chain.”

Before taking steps to list in London, Shein had sought to list its stocks in New York but faced calls in the United States for the company to be investigated over allegations that Uyghur forced labor was used in the production of some of its clothes.

Shein, founded in China and headquartered in Singapore, did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

A company spokesperson said in a statement Shein has “a zero-tolerance policy for forced labour.”

“Visibility across our entire supply chain is of the highest importance to us and we are wholly committed to respecting human rights,” the statement reads.

“To comply with applicable laws, we not only require that our contract manufacturers only source materials from approved regions but we also verify this independently.”

Reuters contributed to this report.