New Delhi: India has amended its Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023 to prohibit the import of goods produced or manufactured using forced labour, strengthening its trade policy framework and aligning domestic regulations with internationally recognised labour standards.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification inserting a new provision — Paragraph 2.20B — into the FTP, empowering the Central Government to prohibit the import of goods found to have been produced, wholly or partly, through the use of forced labour. The amendments will come into force 30 days after their publication in the Official Gazette.
Under the revised policy, imports of goods manufactured using forced labour will be prohibited, while the Central Government will have the authority to notify specific products for import restrictions based on the findings of an inquiry or any other material it considers appropriate.
The notification provides for an inquiry mechanism under which the DGFT will examine whether imported goods have been produced using forced labour.
If evidence establishes the use of forced labour, the DGFT may recommend that the government prohibit imports of those goods. The inquiry process will be carried out in accordance with the procedures prescribed under the Handbook of Procedures, 2023.
The DGFT has also introduced a formal definition of “forced labour” under Chapter 11 of the FTP by adopting the definition contained in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).
According to the notification, forced labour refers to “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”
The trade regulator said the amendments strengthen India’s foreign trade policy by providing a legal framework to restrict imports linked to forced labour while bringing the FTP in line with the ILO convention.
The notification was issued under the provisions of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, with the approval of the Minister of Commerce and Industry.
(IANS)
