UK fashion retailers trading and importing forced labour goods are exposed to legal risk after the Court of Appeal ruled the UK National Crime Agency's refusal to investigate Uyghur forced labour cotton imported from China was unlawful.

The landmark case means if a UK fashion retailer knowingly, or with suspicion, imports goods that have been made in criminal circumstances, such as through forced Uyghur labour, they could be prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act for trading criminal property.

The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which took the case to the Court of Appeal alongside the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), claimed this is the “first case in the world” involving Uyghur forced labour to “successfully disrupt supply chains which are complicit in the ongoing genocide of Uyghur and other Turkic peoples in East Turkestan / Xinjiang, China.”

GLAN said: “Companies must now clean up their supply chains or risk prosecution.”

The organisation added that the case challenged the so-called failure of the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate companies suspected of importing and trading in forced labour cotton.

GLAN and WUC hope the overturned decision will lead to a full investigation into imports from the Uyghur region, and a commitment from the NCA to stopping tainted goods entering UK markets. 

GLAN’s senior lawyer Dearbhla Minogue commented: “This litigation has been critical in recognising the mass atrocities being committed against Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim people by the Chinese government, and holding to account those complicit in, or profiting from, these crimes.

“There is an abundance of evidence that UK companies are importing forced labour cotton from China. Following this ruling, we expect the National Crime Agency will investigate and prosecute where appropriate to prevent forced labour cotton from flooding the UK market.” 

GLAN lawyer Leanna Burnard added: “This judgement is a watershed moment for supply chains profiting from forced labour and other crimes. Where companies know or suspect they are trading the proceeds of crime, they will themselves be committing a crime whenever they transfer those goods. We hope this will mark the end of the UK market being used to launder the profits of mass atrocities, and that UK high street shoppers can expect that their purchases will no longer support the suffering of others.” 

UK director of the WUC Rahima Mahmut stated: “Now, we urgently call on the government to implement tougher legislation.” 

In April 2024, the European Parliament approved legislation that will prohibit the sale, import, and export of goods manufactured using forced labour within the EU from 2027.

By Just Style