13 Amendments of Jean-Lin LACAPELLE related to 2022/0269(COD)
Amendment 168 #
(22) Before initiating an investigation, competent authorities should request from the economic operators under assessment information on actions taken to mitigate, prevent or bring to an end risks of forced labour in their operations and value chains with respect to the products under assessment. Carrying out such due diligence in relation to forced labour should help the economic operator to be at a lower risk of having forced labour in its operations and value chains. Appropriate due diligence means that forced labour issues in the value chain have been identified and addressed in accordance with relevant Union legislation and international standards. This Regulation should be subsidiary to Due Diligence processes and be the last resort instrument to be applied when supply chain due diligence has not been properly executed according to applicable international guidelines. That implies that where the competent authority considers that there is no substantiated concern of a violation of the prohibition, for instance due to, but not limited to the applicable legislation, guidelines, recommendations or any other due diligence in relation to forced labour being applied in a way that mitigates, prevents and brings to an end the risk of forced labour, no investigation should be initiated.
Amendment 384 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
2. In their assessment of the likelihood that economic operators violated Article 3, competent authorities shall focus on the economic operators involved in the steps of the value chain as close as possible to where the risk of forced labour is likely to occcausing forced labour and take into account the size and economic resources of the economic operators, the quantity of products concerned, as well as the scale of suspected forced labour.
Amendment 406 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
4. Economic operators shall respond to the request of the competent authority referred to in paragraph 3 within 15 30 working days from the day they received such request. Economic operators may provide to competent authorities any other information they may deem useful for the purposes of this Article.
Amendment 430 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 7
Article 4 – paragraph 7
7. Competent authorities shall not initiate an investigation pursuant to Article 5, and shall inform the economic operators under assessment accordingly, where, on the basis of the assessment referred to in paragraph 1 and the information submitted by economic operators pursuant to paragraph 4, the competent authorities consider that there is no substantiated concern of a violation of Article 3, for instance due to, but not limited to, the applicable legislation, guidelines, recommendations or any other due diligence in relation to forced labour referred to in paragraph 3 being applied in a way that mitigates, prevents andor brings to an end the risk of forced labour.
Amendment 432 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 a (new)
Article 4 a (new)
Article 4 a Burden of evidence Competent authorities shall bear the burden of establishing that forced labour has been used at any stage of production, manufacture, harvest or extraction of a product, including working or processing related to the product on the basis of all information and evidence gathered during the investigation, including its preliminary phase.
Amendment 435 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
1. Competent authorities that, pursuant to Article 4(5), determine that value chain due diligence has not been properly executed according to applicable international guidelines and that therefore there is a substantiated concern of a violation of Article 3, shall decide, as last resort instrument. to initiate an investigation on the products and economic operators concerned.
Amendment 471 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. Economic operators shall submit the information within 1530 working days from the request referred to in paragraph 3 or make a justified request for an extension of that time limit.
Amendment 580 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 5
Article 8 – paragraph 5
5. Economic operators that have been affected by a decision of a competent authority pursuant to this Regulation shall have access to a court to review the procedural and substantive legality of the decision. Economic operators shall be entitled to compensation or damages for the prohibition, withdrawal or destruction of products arising from a wrongful decision by a competent authority.
Amendment 626 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 1
Article 11 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission shall call upon external expertise and all relevant stakeholders to provide an indicative, non- exhaustive, verifiableed, solid and regularly updated database of forced labour risks in specific geographic areas or with respect to specific products including with regard to forced labour imposed by state authorities. The database shall be based on the guidelines referred to in Article 23, points (a), (b) and (c), and relevant reliable external sources of information from, amongst others, international organisations and third country authorities.
Amendment 643 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 2
Article 11 – paragraph 2
2. The Commission shall ensure that the database is made publicly available by the external expertise at the lateleast 2410 months after the entry into force of this Regulation.
Amendment 728 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
The Commission shall issue guidelines no later than 180 months after the entry into force of this Regulation, which shall include the following:
Amendment 749 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) further information to facilitate the competent authorities’detailed guidance for competent authorities to garantee homogeneous implementation of this Regulation;
Amendment 799 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 1
Article 26 – paragraph 1
1. In order to facilitate effective implementation and enforcement of this Regulation, the Commission mayshall as appropriate cooperate, engage and exchange information with, amongst others, authorities of third countries, international organisations, civil society representatives and business organisations. International cooperation with authorities of third countries shall take place in a structured way as part of the existing dialogue structures with third countries or, if necessary, specific ones that will be created on an ad hoc basis.