During a session with the Foreign Affairs Committee, experts presented evidence that some companies have “clean” production lines for the United States and “dirty” lines for other countries, including the UK. They warned that the UK is at risk of becoming a “dumping ground” for goods potentially tainted by Uyghur slave labor, as a result of more lenient import regulations compared to other countries.
According to the experts, some solar panel manufacturers operate two production lines, with one meeting the U.S. market standards and the other not compliant with the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). This means that rejected goods can easily be diverted to the UK, posing an increased risk of slave labor in British imports.
Chloe Cranston from Anti-Slavery International criticized the UK’s Modern Slavery Act as insufficient to address forced labor issues, pointing out that it mainly consists of a reporting obligation and can be easily circumvented by companies seeking compliance.
The U.S. UFLPA sets a higher standard by defaulting all goods from China’s Xinjiang Province as involving forced labor unless proven otherwise, leaving the UK behind in terms of anti-modern slavery legislation.
Experts highlighted the increasing difficulty of tracing products’ manufacturing footprints in China, exposing the UK to additional risk of slave labor. They pointed to re-exporting and the bifurcation of supply chains, making it easier for rejected U.S. shipments to be redirected to the UK without proving the absence of forced labor.
Yalkun Uluyol, a researcher at Sheffield Hallam University’s Forced Labor Lab, explained that companies use bifurcation to send UFLPA-compliant products to the U.S. market and non-compliant modules to the global market, including the UK, rendering it a “dumping ground” for such products.
He also emphasized the need for more legislation, guidance, and transparency to prevent Chinese manufacturers from evading UFLPA by exporting to South Asian countries or establishing subsidiaries there.
The experts highlighted the impossibility of auditing manufacturing processes in the Uyghur region due to lack of credibility and the Chinese regime’s surveillance, making it increasingly challenging to conduct due diligence and maintain business in that region.
Mr. Uluyol also shared that several of his family members have been subjected to reeducation camps and imprisoned for no reason, further illustrating the human rights crisis in Xinjiang.