China: Forced Labour

(asked on 5th December 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 13 of the Defence Supply Chain Strategy, published in November 2022, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the clothing inventory sourced from China is (a) ethically sourced and (b) does not include the use of forced labour in its production.


Answered by
James Cartlidge Portrait
James Cartlidge
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This question was answered on 13th December 2023

It is longstanding policy that the use of slave labour is a mandatory exclusion from contracts with the Ministry of Defence; this policy is currently captured within the Procurement Contract Regulations (2015). In line with this policy the current suppliers of clothing follow a code of practice under which cotton sourced from countries or regions at high risk of forced labour or child labour is prohibited, including the Xinjiang province of China. This is subject to regular review, and inspections of overseas suppliers are performed to ensure adherence to this policy.

Reticulating Splines