Modern slavery | UK Regulatory Outlook September 2026

European Commission publishes notice setting out guidelines on the Forced Labour Regulation

The European Commission has published a notice setting out guidelines on the application of the Forced Labour Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, in the Official Journal of the European Union on 3 September 2026. This follows an earlier publication of the guidelines via the Commission's "have your say" portal.

The regulation prohibits the placing, making available or export of products made with forced labour on the EU market, applying to all products regardless of origin, sector or stage of production, and to all economic operators, including non-EU businesses. The notice confirms that due diligence remains a "useful tool" rather than a specific obligation, since the regulation instead imposes an obligation of result.

The Commission has also published a list of competent authorities for the regulation, though only ten member states have so far made a designation, and the promised forced labour risk database is not yet available.

Businesses should use the guidelines, now formally published, to map forced labour risk across their supply chains and test due diligence arrangements against the OECD-aligned framework they set out, ahead of the December 2027 application date.