II. Research Objectives

2021). Furthermore, the ILO notes that the CRC and ILO Conventions on child labour are in no way at odds with each other (ibid).

To further compel exporting countries to root out the practice of child labour, one hard-line option at the disposal of importing countries involves the imposition of trade conditionality to the point of sanctions. For example, since the removal of the consumptive demand exemption in 2016, the U.S. is banning goods from entering the country that are believed to be produced with forced labour, including forced or indentured child labour. What began as isolated sanctions against Xinjiang textile makers in August of 2020 (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2020) became a blanket ban on all Xinjiang cotton in January of 2021 – impacting 87% of China’s cotton crop and, consequently, one-fifth of the world’s supply (Dou et al., 2021). Also the U.K. Government (2021) has taken measures to halting the importation of goods that are linked to modern-day slavery in China.

Concerted supply chain action also at the individual corporate level – in the case of severe human rights impacts – is e.g. also advised in the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals (OECD, 2016). Adopted in 2011, the OECD Guidance features a due diligence framework for minerals production and trade, and Annex II provides for companies to cease business relationships where their supply chains are linked, inter alia, to the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL).

Overarching objective: This study seeks to provide evidence-based policy options that may enhance the EU’s position to reduce child labour through its demand in traded goods, given that current trade policy does not apply its own leverage on the issue to its full potential. The EU’s leverage on the issue will be enhanced by introducing additional conditionality, accountability, and corporate liability into future legislation, including bilateral trade agreements and mandatory due diligence provisions. What are the relevant instruments at the disposal of policymakers, as revealed by precedents? What toolkits would need to be created? Scientific evidence and arguments will be furnished, resulting in an empirical basis for such policy options. From the position of child wellbeing, maximally beneficial outcomes will be proposed, mindful of externalities.

Overarching framework: Pillar I and Pillar II of the United Nations (UN, 2011) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) serve as the overarching framework of this study. Unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011, the UNGPs put forward 31 principles how nation-states and businesses should uphold human rights, organised according to three pillars (see Table 3).

Table 3: Pillars of United Nations Guiding Principles

pillar actor

Duty I State protect human rights II Private sector respect human rights III State + private sector provide access to remedy for victims of business-related abuses

Study scope: Another way to describe the scope of this study is its application of 3 lenses:

--> EU-based legislative initiatives (ex novo or pipeline) --> Application of the UNGPs as they apply to states, markets and victims --> Products associated with child labour imported into the EU

In applying these three lenses, we must, however, add the caveat that the study will not cover the full gamut of dimensions.

With the first and second pillar of the UNGPs serving as this study’s overarching framework, the proposed legislative interventions advanced in this study align with the two pillars as follows: Pillar 1 – Protect: bilateral trade policy, multilateral engagement Pillar 2 – Respect: mandatory due diligence legislation

To strengthen existing EU legislation vis-à-vis the UN Guiding Principles, and, in particular, to leverage the market (e.g. trade block purchasing power, trade policy) toward that end, the study will specifically focus on (1) bi-lateral trade agreements, (2) mandatory corporate due diligence, and (3) investment codices.

Upon covering the research objectives (Chapter II) and research methods (Chapter III), this report delves into the problem statement (Chapter IV), which notably covers sectors and geographies where child labour is present, estimates the share of goods imported to the EU made with child labour, as well as investigates the drivers of child labour and relevant interventions through the eyes of scholarly works. Thereafter, the study investigates measures related to the first UNGPs Pillar – i.e. the state’s duty to protect – and specifically how the EU and U.S. treat the issue of child labour in trade policy and instruments, including the use of sanctions targeting relevant corporate entities or goods to be imported (Chapter V). Under the rubric of the second UNGPs pillar – i.e the corporate responsibility to respect – the study assesses, in particular, existing and forthcoming supply chain due diligence legislation (Chapter VI). Chapter VII ties our research findings to policy options, Chapter VIII considers the interactions of the recommended reforms, and Chapter IX treats relevant WTO provisions and potential approaches.