The UK Government has announced plans to introduce mandatory human rights due diligence obligations for large corporations alongside powers to remove goods produced with forced labour from the domestic market.
In a written ministerial statement (HCWS454) delivered to Parliament, Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, outlined the reforms following an evidence-based review of the UK’s Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) framework under the national Trade Strategy.
The review concluded that the UK’s current anti-forced-labour measures—primarily anchored in the Modern Slavery Act 2015—had become fragmented and overly dependent on voluntary disclosures, leaving the country out of step with G7 peers and international trading standards.
To address the gap, the government plans to introduce statutory human rights due diligence requirements for services across the UK and for goods within Great Britain. The regime will apply to large UK entities generating a global turnover exceeding £350 million, as well as foreign corporations with UK-generated turnover above £350 million. In Northern Ireland, the UK will apply the European Union’s Forced Labour Regulation (EUFLR) pursuant to the Windsor Framework.
Key legislative, regulatory, and corporate compliance provisions include:
- Scope and turnover threshold: Targets enterprise-level businesses with annual turnover exceeding £350 million, requiring them to identify, assess, and mitigate human rights abuses and labour exploitation across global supply chains.
- Regulatory enforcement and market bans: Empowers an enforcement regulator to investigate supply chain infractions and issue binding directives to withdraw identified forced-labour products from the Great Britain market.
- International standards alignment: Aligns compliance expectations with established global frameworks, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct.
- Northern Ireland Windsor alignment: Implements the EU Forced Labour Regulation in Northern Ireland to preserve UK internal market continuity and alignment with European trade rules.
- Enterprise guidance hub: Establishes a centralized digital advice hub on GOV.UK to assist businesses in structuring due diligence workflows prior to formal statutory enforcement.
Jonathan Reynolds stated that while the 2015 Modern Slavery Act represented a pioneer framework at launch, updated international standards mandate a proportionate, mandatory approach to safeguard responsible businesses from unfair competition and prevent tainted goods from reaching UK consumers.
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade confirmed it will draft primary legislation to enact the regime as soon as parliamentary scheduling permits.
