Supermarkets ‘put profits before human rights’, says MP

In an urgent question in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Champion described UK product labeling as “weak and confusing”.

The chairwoman of the International Development Select Committee called for more information to be provided to consumers about which countries products’ ingredients come from and stronger legislation to effectively ban the importation of products made with forced labour.

Champion said UK supply chains are “full of Uyghur forced labor products” because human rights due diligence is “optional” for British companies.

“To the supermarkets, I say, you are all complicit in putting profit before human rights and I hope the British people will do the right thing and make their mark in their pockets, in their wallets,” she said.

An investigation by BBC Eye’s Blood on the Shelves found that a total of 17 products – most sold in own-brand UK and German retailers – possibly contained Chinese tomatoes – from BBC World Service shows. Tested by

Most Chinese tomatoes come from the Xinjiang region, where their production is tied to the forced labor of Uyghurs and other large Muslim minorities.

The United Nations accuses the Chinese state – which views these minorities as a security risk – of torture and abuse.

China denies it forces people to work in the tomato industry and says workers’ rights are protected by law. It says the UN report is based on “misinformation and lies”.

Also commenting on the BBCI investigation was the former leader of the Conservative Party, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who echoed the champion’s call for an effective ban on such products supported by criminal sanctions.

Business and Trade Secretary Douglas Alexander responded to the debate in the House of Commons, saying he was concerned the government was reviewing the Modern Slavery Act and would “approach the company in question to clarify the true facts”. Try to establish what are in the depth of their alarming reports.”

“We need to send a clear and unmistakable signal that any company in the UK that operates under the current legal framework should not have any form of forced labor in its supply chain,” added Alexander.

Calls on Monday for the new legislation came as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Baroness Hayman of Ullock said Defra “would better inform consumers as a way of Looking at the Labeling”.