Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

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A court recently found that UK authorities did not fetter their discretion by not investigating general cotton imports potentially produced by the forced labour of Uyghur people in China.

By Stuart Alford KC, Clare Nida, Nathan Seltzer, Paul Davies, Michael Green, James Bee, and Esha Marwaha

Update (9 July 2024): The judgment referred to in this article was overturned by the UK Court of Appeal on 27 June 2024. For our analysis of the latest information and implications, please see our latest blog post.

On 20 January 2023, the High Court ruled against human rights campaigners who argued that UK authorities were improperly allowing the import of cotton textiles made in Xinjiang, a region of China associated with alleged human rights abuses against the Uyghur people. Approximately 85% of Chinese cotton is grown in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), with the “vast majority” of cotton alleged to have been produced in facilities under conditions of “detention and prison labour”.[1]

A recent report concluded that modern slavery considerations are still not a mainstream concern for many companies.

By Clare Nida

In April 2022, the Financial Reporting Council, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, and Lancaster University published a report on Modern Slavery Reporting Practices in the UK (FRC Report), which concluded that reporting on modern slavery in both modern slavery statements and annual reports lacks the information needed for shareholders and wider stakeholders to make informed decisions as to the adequacy of companies’ anti-modern slavery practices.