As global supply chains have grown more complex and labor rights problems have only increased, governments, brands, investors, consumers, workers and other civil society actors have been demanding greater transparency, including through new traceability technologies. One driver has been the alarming evidence of labor rights abuses. The International Labor Organization (ILO) concluded that global progress against child labor, estimated to include 160 million children in 2020, has stalled for the first time in two decades. The ILO also estimated that in 2021 about 27.6 million people were in forced labor.
Another important set of drivers include mandatory import requirements, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s vigorous enforcement of the Tariff Act’s prohibition of the importation of goods made by forced labor through withhold release orders and the new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (2021), which strengthens the prohibition against the importation of goods mined, produced or manufactured with forced labor in China, most particularly Xinjiang. The EU draft ban to prohibit importation of goods made with forced labor (2023) is also expected to come into effect soon, on the heels of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (2022).