New Commission Guidelines on the EU Forced Labour Regulation (FLR)

The European Commission has recently published detailed interpretative guidelines on the EU Forced Labour Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 (FLR) (FLR Guidelines). The guidelines are available on the Commission’s website (Link).

In addition to information on the scope of economic operators’ obligations, the guidelines contain explanations regarding the product scope of the Regulation. The latter are particularly relevant. Even as the Regulation is due to come into force on 14 December 2027 (Article 39 FLR), according to the guidelines, the Regulation is also intended to enable the competent authorities to withdraw from the market products manufactured using forced labour that were placed on the market or made available in the EU prior to this date (FLR Guidelines, p. 7). To mitigate the risk of marketing bans, companies should therefore familiarise themselves with the requirements of the Regulation well before 14 December 2027.

In this blog post, we outline some key take aways from the new FLR guidelines. For a detailed explanation of the FLR’s content, please refer to our FLR client information dated 30 March 2026. You can access this via the following link: Link.

What is the significance of the FLR guidelines?

Under Article 11 FLR, the Commission is required to draw up guidelines to assist the authorities and relevant economic operators in implementing the FLR. However, the guidelines are merely a non-binding interpretative document (FLR Guidelines, p. 3). This means that they do not definitively determine the content of the FLR; this is reserved exclusively for the (European) courts.

Although they are not legally binding, such guidelines are usually of considerable practical relevance. In particular, they are frequently referred to by market surveillance authorities when interpreting and applying EU legislation.

According to the guidelines, to which products does the FLR apply?

According to the guidelines, the FLR has a very broad product scope. It covers all manufactured products, raw materials and agricultural produce. It therefore applies to all products traded within the EU. It does not apply to services.

Furthermore, the FLR applies to all products traded within the EU. This is the case even if they were placed on the market or made available before the Regulation came into force on 14 December 2027. In practice, the competent authorities will therefore also be able to take action under the FLR in respect of products that are already being placed on the market or made available in the EU today. This is the case, at least, where products have not yet been supplied to the end user (FLR Guidelines, p. 7 et seq.).

Which products are particularly at risk of measures being taken under the FLR?

Article 3 of the FLR imposes a general prohibition on placing on the market or making available within the EU any products made using forced labour. However, for the authorities to take action under the FLR, they must first carry out an investigation and determine whether a product infringes Article 3 FLR (Article 14 et seq. FLR). The criteria used to select products for investigation include, amongst others, the following (Article 14(2) FLR):

• The scale and severity of the suspected forced labour: the number of indicators of forced labour, the issues that need to be addressed, the duration and the systematic nature of the forced labour. In the case of state-sponsored forced labour in particular, it is assumed to be systematic in nature and to occur on a large scale.
• Quantity or volume of products on the Union market: trade and sales volumes of the products on the Union market.
• Share of the product in respect of which there is a suspicion of forced labour: The decisive factor here is the significance (physical, functional or economical) of the part (e.g. component or sub-assembly) of the product in respect of which there is a suspicion of forced labour (FLR Guidelines, p. 13 ff.).

On the basis of the criteria set out above, economic operators can also carry out an initial assessment – for example, as part of an abstract risk analysis – as to whether measures under the FLR are likely to be imposed in respect of the products they have procured.

Do economic operators have due diligence obligations under the FLR?

Article 1(3) of the FLR stipulates that the Regulation is not intended to create any new due diligence obligations for economic operators. In practice, however, the FLR Guidelines emphasise that economic operators may, in particular, rely on measures to monitor their supply chains for risks of forced labour in order to rebut any suspicion that one of their products has been made using forced labour (FLR Guidelines, p. 7, 25). This is also evident from the fact that the guidelines contain extensive details on due diligence obligations which economic operators may fulfil on a voluntary basis to ensure that they act in accordance with the FLR (FLR Guidelines, p. 49 ff.).

Furthermore, compliance with existing due diligence obligations under other legal acts plays a role in assessing whether an economic operator is in breach of the FLR. Such obligations are set out, for example, in the CSDDD , the EU Batteries Regulation, the EU Deforestation Regulation and the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation. An economic operator may also cite compliance with these due diligence obligations during an investigation to rebut suspicion that they are trading in products made using forced labour (FLR Guidelines, p. 50).