https://twitter.com/DavidAltonHL/status/1885341099222348266
Lord Hanson of Flint, the Home Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL4022):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government how many cargo flights from Urumqi in China to Stansted Airport carrying e-commerce goods for department stores have been searched by UK border officials to ensure they are not carrying goods made by Uyghur forced labour since this route was established in December 2024. (HL4022)
Tabled on: 14 January 2025
Answer:
Lord Hanson of Flint:
The Government encourages businesses to monitor their global supply chains with rigour, uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find. Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36 million or more must report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains by publishing an annual modern slavery statement.
The Home Office is currently working with a wide group of stakeholders to update the Section 54 statutory guidance. This will further support businesses to produce high quality statements, which are underpinned by effective measures to prevent and effectively respond to instances of modern slavery in supply chains.
Border Force does not routinely assess whether goods on freight entering the UK may have been made using forced labour, but we work closely with law enforcement partners to share intelligence to ensure all goods abide by customs and excise rules.
Date and time of answer: 28 Jan 2025 at 16:46.
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POLITICO:
UK urged to probe spate of Chinese flights for forced labour
Three new routes connecting China’s Xinjiang province to major U.K. airports have opened up since last summer.ListenShare
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January 31, 2025 1:07 pm CET
LONDON — A flurry of new cargo flights from China’s Xinjiang province to Britain may be trafficking goods made with forced labor, the U.K. government is being warned.
Three brand-new routes connecting Xinjiang — at the center of international human rights concerns over the treatment of the Uyghur ethnic group — to major U.K. airports have opened up since last summer.
It’s prompted demands for an investigation from the head of the British parliament’s cross-party human rights committee, who fired off a letter to the U.K. government earlier this month — and is considering calling freight bosses to give evidence in Westminster.
“I fear that these routes are being used to bring goods made with forced labor into the U.K.,” said David Alton in a Jan. 17 letter to Home Office Minister David Hanson, seen by POLITICO.
The fresh trade routes all sprang up in 2024, and come amid increased popularity for a host of Chinese e-commerce platforms in the U.K.
European charter airline Titan Airways operates what has been billed as the first direct route between Xinjiang and London. Data shows that flights run every one to two days. The route, which became operational in December, specializes in e-commerce cargo.
European Cargo meanwhile launched a new direct route from Xinjiang to Cardiff airport in October. It flies three times every week, and deals primarily with e-commerce cargo. It was launched last year with talk of a “milestone flight” carrying 59 tons of e-commerce packages.
The same cargo carrier also expanded its operations, connecting Xinjiang to Bournemouth airport last August, with four flights per week. Also specializing in e-commerce goods, it carried 58 tons in its maiden voyage.
Both Titan Airways and European Cargo have issued statements saying that they comply with the U.K.’s Modern Slavery Act, which requires firms to be vigilant and report on steps to guard against forced labor in their supply chains.
European Cargo declined to comment when approached by POLITICO, and Titan Airways did not respond to a request for comment.
Alton’s human rights committee is now weighing up whether to call in cargo carriers using these routes to give evidence in an ongoing forced labor inquiry.
The e-commerce imports, flown into Stansted, Cardiff and Bournemouth, are “most likely tainted by Uyghur forced labor,” Alton wrote to the Conservatives’ Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel in a separate letter. He sent a similar letter to Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch, whose constituency neighbors Stansted airport.
Lagging behind the US and EU
It comes as pressure mounts on U.K. ministers to crack down on forced labor in international supply chains.
This month Alton’s committee launched an inquiry into forced labor, and has been pressing the government to update laws. MPs on the House of Commons business and trade committee are also preparing to push for stricter regulations.
Some British lawmakers argue that the U.K.’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 — passed by the Tories — lags behind similar measures in the EU and United States.
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The U.K. “lacks a forced labor due-diligence screening mechanism compared to our partners in Europe and the USA which has the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” Alton said in his letter to the Home Office.
Under the current law, U.K. firms making more than £36 million must file an annual report about how they’ve prevented modern slavery in their operations.
The Home Office’s Border Force “does not routinely assess whether goods on freight entering the U.K. may have been made using forced labor,” Minister Hanson said in a parliamentary reply to Alton this week.
But he insisted: “The government encourages businesses to monitor their global supply chains with rigor, uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find.”
It is a government “failure” that Border Force isn’t required to check imports for using slave labor, Alton said in an interview with POLITICO. “The U.K. has opened itself up as a dumping ground,” he warned.
That view was echoed by China-watchers in the U.K., who have long warned about Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghurs people.
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China has detained Uyghurs at camps in the northwest region of Xinjiang, where there have been allegations of torture, forced labor and sexual abuse. The Chinese government claims the camps carry out “re-education” to combat terrorism.
“Without a forced labor screening regime, the U.K. is fast becoming a dumping ground and potentially a re-export market for goods made with Uyghur forced labor,” said Sam Goodman of the hawkish China Strategic Risks Institute think tank.
“The U.K. should have no direct imports from the Uyghur region,” warned Chloe Cranston, a supply chain expert at Anti-Slavery International.
“Due to the scale of the persecution and the systematic nature of state-imposed forced labor across the Uyghur region, we have to presume all products made in the Uyghur region, whether factory or farm, are very likely made with Uyghur forced labor,” she added.
New airfreight routes connecting Xinjiang to the U.K. show a “critical need for import controls,” Cranston added.
The U.K. government needs to take forced labor seriously, Alton said. “It’s like semaphore. It’s all dependent on the signals you send.”
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Joint Committee On Human Rights: Call For Evidence:
