Beyond paper compliance: why supply chains struggle to confront forced labour

Lotfi, Maryam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1261-9834 and Walker, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0892-9231 2026. Beyond paper compliance: why supply chains struggle to confront forced labour. www.restructurelab.org: Re:Structure Lab. Available at: https://www.restructurelab.org/policy-briefs/coope...

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Abstract

Forced labour is too often treated as an isolated crime carried out by rogue suppliers or traffickers. In reality, it is a systemic feature of globalised production, leaving 27.6 million people currently trapped in forced labour, according to the International Labour Organization. Governments in the UK, Australia, and the EU have introduced mandatory transparency and due diligence measures, while companies have invested in audits, supplier codes of conduct, and disclosure reports. Yet these measures have not fundamentally reduced exploitation, and modern slavery incidents continue to occur in supply chains. Forced labour is a predictable outcome of business models that rely on downward pressure on prices and labour costs. When buyers impose contracts below production costs, demand unreasonably short lead times, or shift recruitment costs onto workers, suppliers are driven into exploitative practices and modern slavery incidents are more likely to occur. Risk management systems are not designed to address these structural drivers. Instead, they protect companies against financial vulnerability, supply chain disruptions, and reputational and legal exposure. This means they fail at two crucial points; before modern slavery incidents occur at the prevention and detection phases, and after modern slavery incidents occur at the remedy and response phases.

Item Type:	Report (Other)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Publisher:	Re:Structure Lab
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 February 2026
Date of Acceptance:	4 February 2026
Last Modified:	05 Feb 2026 12:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/184385

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