EU FORCED LABOUR REGULATION GUIDELINES: WHAT THE COMMISSION'S NEW GUIDANCE MEANS FOR YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN

On 26 June 2026, the European Commission published its long-awaited guidelines on the application of the EU Forced Labour Regulation (FLR). The FLR, formally Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, prohibits economic operators from placing products made with forced labour on the EU market, making them available there, or exporting them from it. The prohibition applies from 14 December 2027, and it covers every product, in every sector, regardless of origin.

The guidelines are the most detailed picture yet of how the Regulation will work in practice: how authorities will select and prioritise cases, what evidence they will request, how ban decisions will be enforced at borders and online, and what voluntary due diligence looks like. For sourcing, compliance and sustainability teams, one theme runs through the entire document: your ability to trace products, components and raw materials through your supply chain will shape how you fare in an investigation.

This article breaks down what the guidelines say and what your brand should do now. For background on the Regulation itself, see TrusTrace overview of the EU Forced Labour Regulation.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT DO THE NEW FLR GUIDELINES COVER?

The guidelines fulfil the Commission's obligation under Article 11 of the FLR and address both the authorities who will enforce the Regulation and the economic operators who must comply with it. They cover the definition and indicators of forced labour, the full investigative process, enforcement of ban decisions within the EU and at its borders, the calculation of financial penalties, voluntary due diligence guidance for companies, and how anyone can submit information about suspected violations.

The guidelines were developed in consultation with international organisations, Member States, businesses, trade unions and civil society, drawing on 160 contributions to the Commission's call for evidence. They are guidance only: the text of the Regulation itself is what carries legal force, and the guidelines may be updated over time. That said, they are the reference point that competent authorities across the EU will use, which makes them essential reading for any brand selling into the EU market.

HOW IS THE FLR DIFFERENT FROM DUE DILIGENCE LAWS LIKE CSDDD?

The FLR imposes an obligation of result, not an obligation of process. Unlike the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which requires large companies to run a due diligence process from July 2029, the FLR imposes no due diligence obligations at all. Instead, it sets an unconditional and absolute prohibition: if a product is made with forced labour, it cannot be placed on the EU market or exported from it. Full stop. It is the economic operator's responsibility to ensure compliance, and doing due diligence well does not exempt a product from the ban if forced labour is actually present.

The scope is deliberately broad. The prohibition covers products made 'in whole or in part' with forced labour at any stage of extraction, harvesting, production or manufacturing, anywhere in the supply chain, inside or outside the EU. There is no minimum threshold: a product falls within scope regardless of how small the share made with forced labour is. The Regulation covers manufactured goods, agricultural products and extracted raw materials, and it applies to all economic operators, from producers and importers to distributors and retailers. Products sold online to EU end users are covered too, and authorities can act on online offers even before the products are placed on the EU market. Services, including transport and logistics, are excluded.

One detail that matters for inventory planning: the ban applies to all products placed or made available on the EU market from 14 December 2027, even if those products or their components were produced or imported before that date. Stock on shelves and in warehouses is in scope; only products that have already reached end users are not.

HOW WILL AUTHORITIES DECIDE WHICH PRODUCTS AND COMPANIES TO INVESTIGATE?

Authorities will target investigations using a risk-based approach built on three criteria assessed together: the scale and severity of the suspected forced labour, the quantity or volume of affected products on the EU market, and the share of the suspect component within the final product. The larger each factor, the higher the priority. The guidelines single out state-imposed forced labour (SIFL) as likely to rank high on both scale and severity because it is systemic by nature.

When choosing which economic operators to focus on, authorities will look at proximity to the alleged forced labour and leverage over it. For forced labour occurring outside the EU, the guidelines explicitly note that importers are likely to be key targets, because upstream producers often lack a clear link to the EU market. Size and resources matter too: larger companies are expected to have more compliance capability, though authorities will also watch for circumvention through outsourcing to smaller enterprises.

Where will the leads come from? The guidelines list the sources authorities will draw on: a single information submission point where anyone, from NGOs to competitors to individual workers, can file allegations; the EU's forced labour risk database flagging risks by product and geography; past decisions shared between authorities; information from labour inspectorates and other national bodies; and authorities' own research, which the guidelines note explicitly includes supply chain traceability tools. The single information submission point will be accessible via the Forced Labour Single Portal from 14 December 2027.

WHAT EVIDENCE WILL YOU NEED TO PROVIDE IN AN INVESTIGATION?

If your products come under assessment, authorities can request detailed evidence about your due diligence actions, working conditions at the alleged site, and the product itself, and the product-related lists read like a traceability specification. The guidelines name, among other things: supply chain maps covering tiers and sub-tiers showing both direct and indirect suppliers; chain-of-custody certificates and raw material traceability data; bills of materials to determine the share of a suspect component; certificates of origin; supplier lists with identification numbers for key production steps; facility names, addresses and geolocation data; purchase orders, invoices, packing lists and shipping documentation; production capacity evidence showing consistency between input and output volumes; and the unique identifier of the Digital Product Passport where one exists.

The deadlines are tight. In a formal investigation, authorities set a deadline of between 30 and 60 working days for submitting requested information. In the preliminary phase, the authority decides within 30 working days of receiving your response whether there is a 'substantiated concern' justifying a full investigation. Once an investigation opens, you are notified within 3 working days, and the authority aims to conclude within 9 months. Assembling multi-tier supplier data, transaction records and chain-of-custody documentation from scratch inside those windows is not realistic for most complex supply chains. The companies that respond credibly will be the ones whose data already exists in a structured, retrievable form.

Two evidentiary points deserve particular attention. First, the guidelines state that the complete lack of, or inability to provide, traceability information, where a product or raw material may have been mixed with one at high risk of forced labour, may weigh negatively in the overall assessment of evidence. In other words, missing traceability data is not neutral. Second, non-cooperation, including incomplete or late responses without valid justification, constitutes in principle evidence, and in combination with other available facts is generally a sufficient basis for establishing a violation. The burden of proof sits with the authority, but silence and data gaps work against you.

For sourcing regions affected by state-imposed forced labour, the guidelines are blunt: social audits conducted where workers cannot speak freely and access is restricted are not considered credible evidence. Brands relying on audit reports alone to cover high-risk sourcing should treat that as a clear signal to strengthen product-level traceability instead.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A VIOLATION IS ESTABLISHED?

A ban-violation decision prohibits the product, orders its withdrawal from the EU market, and orders its disposal, and the prohibition applies to everyone, not just the companies investigated. The guidelines confirm that the ban has general application: any economic operator placing the banned product on the EU market is covered, which the Commission justifies as necessary to prevent circumvention. All decisions are published on the Forced Labour Single Portal, so a decision against one supplier's products immediately becomes market intelligence, and risk, for every brand sourcing from them.

Compliance deadlines start at 30 working days for non-perishable goods (10 for perishable goods). Where only a replaceable part of a product is affected, operators get the opportunity to extract and replace it with a part made free of forced labour rather than disposing of the whole product; knowing precisely which products contain which components is what makes that option usable. For supply chains of strategic or critical importance to the EU, authorities may order products withheld rather than disposed of while the operator eliminates the forced labour. Disposal itself must follow the waste hierarchy, primarily through recycling, and must not benefit the operator economically.

Penalties are imposed not for the violation itself but for failing to comply with a ban decision: continuing to sell, failing to withdraw or dispose, or failing to replace a banned part. Member States must notify their penalty rules to the Commission by 14 December 2026, and the guidelines illustrate calculation methods based either on the value of the non-compliant products or on a percentage of the operator's annual global turnover, adjusted for gravity, duration and aggravating factors such as past non-compliance. A decision can later be withdrawn, but only if the operator demonstrates both compliance with the orders and that forced labour has actually been eliminated for the products concerned, with evidence assessed against the forced labour indicators identified in the decision.

WHAT DOES THE VOLUNTARY DUE DILIGENCE GUIDANCE RECOMMEND?

Section 6 of the guidelines gives companies non-binding due diligence guidance built on the OECD six-step framework, superseding the EU's 2021 forced labour due diligence guidance. The six steps are familiar from other frameworks: embed forced labour due diligence into policies and management systems; identify and assess risks in operations, supply chains and business relationships; prevent, mitigate and bring risks to an end; monitor implementation and results; communicate how risks are addressed; and provide or cooperate in remediation.

Although voluntary under the FLR, this guidance is highly practical: documentation from your due diligence efforts is exactly the kind of evidence you can present to allay an authority's concerns during the preliminary phase, potentially preventing a formal investigation from opening at all. The guidelines also acknowledge that due diligence is not the only route; product traceability, responsible purchasing practices, certification schemes and worker-driven monitoring are named as alternative effective approaches. Notably, the guidelines caution that contractual clauses and supplier assurances should not be treated as sufficient on their own without follow-up and verification.

The guidance also situates the FLR within the wider EU framework: the CSDDD (applying from July 2029, as amended by the Omnibus I package), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and product-specific due diligence regimes under the Deforestation Regulation, the Batteries Regulation and the Conflict Minerals Regulation. For brands, this is the strategic point: the supply chain visibility you build for TrusTrace Deforestation Solution Page and TrusTrace CSDDD content is the same foundation the FLR will test. Building one product-level traceability backbone across regulations beats running parallel compliance silos.

For state-imposed forced labour, the guidance is again direct: company leverage is normally ineffective against state mandates, remediation is rarely possible, and responsible disengagement may be the only viable measure.

KEY ACTIONS FOR BRANDS BEFORE DECEMBER 2027

• Map your supply chains beyond tier 1. The evidence lists assume visibility into tiers and sub-tiers, down to raw material origin for high-risk inputs. Start with product categories exposed to known forced labour risks.
• Centralise evidence so it is retrievable in weeks, not months. Chain-of-custody data, bills of materials, supplier identification, transaction records and facility geolocation need to be structured and accessible to meet 30 to 60 working day response windows.
• Assess your exposure to state-imposed forced labour. SIFL cases are likely to be prioritised given their scale and severity, audits in affected regions will not count as credible evidence, and disengagement may be the only compliant option. Know where your supply chain touches these risks before an authority does.
• Screen against the EU forced labour risk database once it is live. The database will indicate risks relating to products and geographical areas, and it is among the sources authorities will draw on when assessing cases. Use the same lens they will.
• Integrate FLR readiness into your existing due diligence programmes. The guidelines build on the same OECD framework as the CSDDD. One traceability and evidence foundation can serve the FLR, CSDDD, EUDR and reporting obligations simultaneously.
• Monitor published ban decisions. Because decisions have general application and are published on the Single Portal, a ban tied to another company's supply chain can directly affect your products if you share suppliers.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

When does the EU Forced Labour Regulation start applying?

The prohibition applies from 14 December 2027. It covers all products placed or made available on the EU market from that date, including products and components produced or imported earlier, but not products that have already reached end users.

Does the EU Forced Labour Regulation require companies to carry out due diligence?

No. The FLR imposes an obligation of result, not a due diligence obligation. However, the Commission's guidelines recognise due diligence, along with product traceability and other approaches, as an effective way to demonstrate to authorities that products are not made with forced labour.

Who investigates suspected violations of the forced labour ban?

A lead competent authority conducts each investigation: the European Commission when the suspected forced labour occurs outside the EU, and the relevant Member State authority when it occurs on their territory. Customs authorities identify affected products at EU borders and cooperate with the competent authorities, who remain responsible for overall enforcement.

What happens if a company does not cooperate with an investigation?

Non-cooperation, such as refusing to provide requested information or providing incomplete or misleading information, constitutes in principle evidence. Combined with other available facts, it is generally a sufficient basis for the authority to establish a violation of the forced labour ban.

Do ban decisions only apply to the companies that were investigated?

No. The prohibition in a ban-violation decision has general application: it covers any economic operator that places the banned products on the EU market or exports them, not only the companies named in the investigation. All decisions are published on the Forced Labour Single Portal.

TALK TO TRUSTRACE

TrusTrace helps you build the supply chain traceability foundation the EU Forced Labour Regulation will test: multi-tier supplier mapping, chain-of-custody data, and audit-ready evidence you can retrieve within investigation deadlines instead of scrambling to assemble it.

Learn more about TrusTrace compliance solution page or speak with one of our experts.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult legal professionals for guidance specific to your situation.