Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whom from his Department attended the attended the retail sector council on Xinjiang in February 2021; whether minutes of that event have been published; and which of the businesses that attended that event are continuing to work in Xinjiang.

Revised, detailed Overseas Business Risk guidance was published on 12 January and, based on this new guidance, the Government has embarked on a comprehensive programme of engagement with businesses and UK trade bodies. Businesses should take heed of the updated guidance on Xinjiang to understand the human rights risks associated with sourcing from that region and to take appropriate remedial action based on their circumstances.

On 3 February 2021, I co-chaired a retail sector council meeting. It was attended by representatives from both BEIS and industry, including Amazon, Primark, BIRA, ASOS and HSBC. At the meeting, I raised the issue of Xinjiang and outlined current government advice in relation to Chinese supply chain issues. The minutes for the meeting and list of attendees are available on the Retail Sector Council website (https://retailsectorcouncil.co.uk/retail-sector-council).

In March 2021, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade hosted two roundtables on the issue of forced labour in Xinjiang, which 22 organisations attended. This issue will also be a focus of the Business Against Slavery Forum later this year, which brings together the Home Office with 13 large companies with global supply chains across different sectors.