Following the United States, on September 5, the British government warned that the current British solar industry could face the risk of "forced labor".
Recently, Alicia Kearns, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, proposed an amendment to the Energy Act requiring photovoltaic companies in the UK to prove that there is no "forced labour" in their product supply chains. Mr Kearns' amendment was
reportedly backed by seven other committee members of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, as well as senior backbenchers, including former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
The bill refers to a major province in northwest China. According to public data, as a major province of polysilicon production, the production capacity of silicon materials in this region accounts for 66% of the national production capacity. Also disclosed
in the story was a letter from a group to senior British government officials in which it said that because of "systematic forced labour", the company had "no effective means" to verify that any workplace in the province was "free of forced labour". At the same time, they urged governments around the world to ban imports of goods made with forced labor and to diversify renewable energy supply chains.
In response, a UK government spokesperson said they had taken "firm action" against forced labour, adding: "This includes new guidance on the risks of doing business in the province, enhanced export controls and the introduction of financial penalties under the Modern Slavery Act.