New Delhi: The Centre has amended the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 to prohibit the import of goods produced wholly or partly through forced labour, strengthening India’s trade regulations in line with international standards. The move comes weeks after the United States proposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on imports from India, citing concerns over the country’s alleged failure to prevent the entry of goods made using forced labour.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a gazette notification on July 13 introducing a new provision that explicitly bans the import of products manufactured using forced labour. However, the notification does not immediately prohibit any specific goods or imports from particular countries.
Instead, the amendment creates a legal framework that allows the government to ban identified products in the future after investigations by the DGFT. Authorities will be empowered to prohibit imports if evidence establishes that goods were produced through forced labour. The procedures for such inquiries will be outlined separately in the Handbook of Procedures, 2023. The new rules will come into effect 30 days after publication in the Official Gazette.
The policy also introduces a formal definition of “forced labour” by adopting the International Labour Organization’s Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). It defines forced labour as any work or service extracted under the threat of penalty and performed without voluntary consent.
The amendment comes as India and the United States continue negotiations on a proposed bilateral trade agreement. Trade experts believe the move strengthens India’s domestic legal framework and aligns it more closely with global labour standards, potentially improving its position in future trade and market access discussions.
Analysts also note that the effectiveness of the policy will depend on how investigations are conducted and how authorities identify products linked to forced labour. Industries such as textiles, seafood, electronics, batteries, metals and solar components have been identified globally as sectors vulnerable to forced labour risks, making enforcement a key factor in the policy’s long term impact.
