Written by Hana Arslanagic 

Introduction

In November 2024, the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, which prohibits products made with forced labour from being placed on the EU market or exported.¹See generally Regulation 2024/3015 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 on Prohibiting Products Made with Forced Labour on the Union Market and Amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937, 2024 O.J. (L 3015) [hereinafter “EU Regulation 2024/3015”]. The regulation applies to goods produced within and outside the EU and extends to forced labour occurring at any stage of production.² Id. ¶ 18. Because Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 restricts the placement of certain goods on the EU market, therefore creating an import restriction, its legality must also be assessed under international trade law, specifically within the framework of World Trade Organization (WTO) law governing trade restrictions.³The EU and the WTO, Europa, https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/eu-and-wto_en (on file with American University International Law Review) (last visited March 27, 2026).   

WTO agreements generally prohibit members from imposing discriminatory import restrictions or restrictions that treat imported foreign goods less favorably than domestic goods.⁴General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Oct. 30, 1947, 61 Stat. A-11, 55 U.N.T.S. 194, 206, 224, 226 [hereinafter GATT]. However, WTO law allows certain exceptions, such as where trade measures are adopted to protect specific public morals, human life, or are necessary to secure compliance with other established laws.⁵Id., art. XX. Under Article XX(d) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), members may adopt measures necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not consistent with the provisions of GATT, provided those measures are not applied in a manner that constitutes arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination.⁶ Id. Since prohibition of forced labour is considered to have reached jus cogens status, it could fall under this exception as the WTO Appellate Body Report confirmed that GATT should not be read in isolation from public international law.⁷See Salman Bal, International Free Trade Agreements and Human Rights: Reinterpreting Article XX of the GATT, 10 Minn. J. Glob. Trade 62 , 96-97 (2001). Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 therefore attempts to frame its prohibition as a measure designed to protect human rights and enforce forced labour laws rather than as a trade restriction intended to control or violate international trade laws.⁸ EU Regulation 2024/3015, supra note 1.  

WTO Trade Rules and Art. XX(d) Exception 

Even though WTO laws prohibits its members from imposing restrictions on trade laws, an exception can be applied if a two-step test is passed.⁹See Ben Sharp, Responding Internationally to a Resources Crisis: Interpreting the GATT Article XX(j) Short Supply Exception, 15 Drake J. Agric. L. 259, 269-70 (2010). First, the measure must fall within one of the subsections listed in Article XX, in this case XX(d).¹⁰Id.  Article XX(d) of the GATT allows members to adopt measures “necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement.”¹¹ GATT, art. XX(d).  If themeasure falls within Article XX(d), then the WTO law requires that the measure also complies with the conditions contained in the chapeau of Article XX.¹²Sharp, supra note 9, at 270.  The chapeau provides that measures justified under Article XX must not be applied in a manner that results in arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, nor may they constitute a disguised restriction on international trade.¹³GATT, art. XX.  These provisions establish the WTO’s core principle of non-discrimination and aim of treating foreigners and locals equally.¹⁴Principles of the Trading System, World Trade Organization, https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm (on file with American University International Law Review) (last visited March 29, 2026).   

Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 attempts to satisfy these requirements by applying the prohibition on forced labour products to all goods placed on the EU market, regardless of their origin.¹⁵EU Regulation 2024/3015, ¶ 18.  The regulation applies to both goods produced in the EU and imported goods, and targets the use of forced labour globally rather than focusing on specific states.¹⁶Id.  By structuring the measure in this manner, the EU seeks to demonstrate that the regulation is not designed to protect domestic goods but rather to prevent products made with forced labour from entering the EU market and from being made in the EU.¹⁷Id.  Therefore, the manner in which the regulation would be applied in is not arbitrary or discriminatory, and it is not disguised as a restriction on international trade, meeting the obligations set out in the chapeau.¹⁸GATT, art. XX.  Even though the regulation meets this standard, its classification under XX(d) must be further explored.  

Prohibition of Forced Labour: Jus Cogens Status and “Necessary” Element 

The regulation will be enforced alongside established international laws on forced labour.¹⁹See Convention (No. 29) Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, June 28, 1946, 39 U.N.T.S. 55 [hereinafter “Forced Labour Convention”]; Convention (No. 105) Concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, June 25, 1957, 320 U.N.T.S. 291 [hereinafter “Abolition of Forced Labour”].  Forced labour is prohibited under the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Forced Labour Convention (Art. 29) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105).²⁰Id.  Prohibition of forced labour is considered among many to be a jus cogens, meaning all states accept it as a principle that cannot be derogated from.²¹Bal, supra note 7, at 96; Azadeh Shahshahani & Kyleen Burke, Deploying International Law to Combat Forced Labour in Immigration Detention Centers, 37 Geo. Immigr. L. J. 57, 69 (2022); What is Forced Labour?, International Labour Organization, https://www.ilo.org/topics/forced-labour-modern-slavery-and-trafficking-persons/what-forced-labour (on file with American University International Law Review) (last visited March 29, 2026)  The prohibition is acknowledged as such due to the universal recognition of forced labour as a violation of a fundamental right and the violation’s consistent enumerations in labor standards doctrine, as well as the ILO classification of forced labour as a “basic human right”.²² Bal, supra note 7, at 67-68.  These elements demonstrate that engaging in forced labour would violate many established international legal agreements, such as the ones enumerated above, and therefore places Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 into the XX(d) exception under GATT.²³GATT, art. XX(d).   

The measures taken by the EU are also “necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations,” which includes the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Forced Labour Convention (Art. 29) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105).²⁴GATT, art. XX(d); Forced Labour Convention, supra note 19; Abolition of Forced Labour, supra note 19.  These instruments establish binding obligations on states to eliminate forced labour, but enforcement mechanisms primarily rely on voluntary state implementation and supervisory procedures within the ILO framework.²⁵Maayan Menashe, How International Labor Law Is Actually Enforced and Why It Matters, 67 Harv. Int’l L. J., 203, 211 (2026).  As a result, these enforcement mechanisms are often criticized as ineffective and labeled as a “soft law system”.²⁶Id.  Therefore, the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 is necessary for established international law on forced labour to be followed and for companies to carry out their due diligence obligations.²⁷Verity McCullagh et al., Understanding the EU Forced Labour Regulation, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (2025), https://www.ecchr.eu/en/publication/understanding-the-eu-forced-labour-regulation (on file with American University International Law Review) ( last visited, March 29, 2026).  This interaction between international labour law and WTO trade demonstrates how different international legal regimes operate together.²⁸Pascal Lamy, The Place of the WTO and its Law in the International Legal Order, 17 Eur. J. Int’l L. 969, 977 (2006).  While WTO agreements primarily govern trade relations between states, labour conventions establish human rights obligations.²⁹The WTO, World Trade Organization, https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/thewto_e.htm (on file with American University International Law Review) (last visited March 29, 2026); International Labour Standards and Human Rights, International Labour Organization (March 26, 2026), https://www.ilo.org/resource/other/international-labour-standards-and-human-rights (on file with American University International Law Review) (last visited March 29, 2026).  By conditioning market access on compliance with forced labour prohibitions, the EU regulation effectively incorporates international labour laws into international trade law, therefore, giving a practical effect to labour standards that otherwise rely on voluntary state compliance mechanisms which have shown to be ineffective.³⁰McCullagh et al., supra note 27; Menashe, supra note 25, at 211.   

Conclusion 

While forced labour has long been prohibited under international labour law, enforcement mechanisms have shown to be ineffective.³¹Menashe, supra note 25, at 211.  The EU regulation attempts to address this issue by conditioning access to the EU internal market on compliance with forced labour laws.³²EU Regulation 2024/3015, supra note 1; McCullagh et al., supra note 27.  The regulation therefore illustrates the growing interaction between international labour law and international trade law as new enforcement mechanisms are necessary to address forced labour issues.³³Lamy, supra note 28, at 977; Menashe, supra note 25, at 211.