The UK will pass new legislation on modern slavery in the NHS supply chain, including personal protective equipment (PPE) made from cotton procured in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Health Minister Sajid Javid said on Friday that he would like to make the groundbreaking amendment “a turning point in Britain’s mission to eradicate slavery and trafficking in supply chains around the world.”
“As the country’s largest public supplier, the NHS is well-positioned to lead this task,” said Javid.
The amendment said the Minister of Health must implement regulations “to eradicate the use of goods and services contaminated by slavery and trafficking in UK health services.”
Regulations include processes that public authorities must follow when excluding suppliers from consideration of contract awarding, procedures that public authorities must take to assess and address risks of slavery and trafficking, and procurement. May include contractual requirements. British health services, the fix said.
The amendment will be subject to voting at the House of Commons on Monday, but is expected to be formal.
Instead of amendments from the House of Lords, it was proposed to require government ministers to assess whether there is a “serious risk of genocide in the procurement area” for goods and services procured for NHS England. ..
The government previously said it would address the issue with the next bill, “Covering All Government Procurement,” but under pressure from the parties, it proposed an amendment on Thursday.
Former Conservative leader David Maclean, Sir Brenkasla, who proposed the original amendment, spoke at the House of Lords on April 5, stating that the government “will always submit better bills in the future.” “The right time is right now, the right law is this bill.”
Sir Brenkatra has procured “billions of pounds worth of medical equipment, wholly or partially procured from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,” “despite reports of forced labor in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region” in recent years. Said.
On Friday, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a Conservative lawmaker who is pushing for the Lord’s amendment at the House of Commons, said he welcomed Havid’s “significant move.”
Duncan Smith, founder and co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Policy Alliance (IPAC), said members of the IPAC “we campaigned hard for these changes” and “that this is happening now.” It’s good to know. “
He also urged all government departments to “do the same thing quickly.”
“We exploit people weaker than ourselves and send the strongest signal to people around the world who are in terror. The sword of justice is on their way,” he wrote. twitter..
Another major activist on this issue, the CEO of Arise Luke de Pulford, an anti-slavery charity, praised Javid and his division for being at the “front line of human rights.”
“This is, at some distance, the greatest advancement in Modern Slavery Act since 2015. In fact, it is far more important in that it raises the bar for government procurement significantly,” Depleford said. Said. Politico..
“It makes a lot of sense to my people,” said Rahima Mahmut, UK director of the World Uyghur Congress, on the same publication, and people from other countries are confronting the Chinese regime.
“The UK has long pretended that it is possible to increase trade with China while condemning human rights atrocities. We hope this is the beginning of the end of China’s trade impunity. I personally thank Sajid Jabido for the other day I met. I believed when he said “I will do everything I can” for the Uighurs. “Mahmut said.
The passage of the modern slavery amendment represents another major victory for human rights parliamentarians in China.
On March 30, an amendment to the bill was passed aimed at preventing British people from participating in forced organ removal in China.
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Lily Zhou is a freelance writer who mainly covers the British news of The Epoch Times.