The NHS in England will be banned from using goods and services related to slavery or human trafficking under a law to be introduced by the government.
It would prevent healthcare from buying billions worth of equipment from parts of China where it is said to use forced labor in supply chains.
The Government said it wanted to use the purchasing power of the NHS to help “eradicate modern slavery”.
MPs are expected to vote on the measure and pass it next week.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid is due to introduce the new law as an amendment to the Health and Welfare Act on Friday after coming under bipartisan pressure.
The amendment says the Secretary of State for Health must issue regulations to “eliminate” the use of healthcare goods and services in England “tainted” by slavery and human trafficking.
The change comes after Britain bought billions of pounds in health protective equipment during the Covid pandemic. Some of these were allegedly made by forced labor in China.
The government announced in February that the UK had bought £5.8 billion worth of lateral flow tests from China.
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Of particular concern is the use of forced labor in western China’s Xinjiang province. Reports have documented the detention of many thousands of people – mostly from the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority – in camps the authorities say are used to re-educate extremists.
Details of the new law have yet to be worked out, but the regulations are intended to set out the steps the NHS should take to assess the risks associated with individual suppliers and the basis on which they should be excluded from all tendering processes.
Activists say this would effectively create a blacklist of companies banned from providing goods and services to the NHS – including medical equipment, security technology and essential infrastructure.
A senior government source said the change would help ensure the NHS does not buy or use any goods or services that involve any type of slave labour.
“It is absolutely right that we are using the NHS – a giant procurer of all kinds of goods and services – to help eradicate modern slavery around the world,” the source said.
Liberal Democrat foreign policy spokeswoman Layla Moran said: “It’s long overdue. It didn’t need a pandemic to shed light on the extremely worrying links between forced labor supply chains – including those in Xinjiang – and PPE and other items used in our healthcare sector.
She said the government shouldn’t stop there and should make a “concerted effort” to tackle modern slavery in all UK supply chains and ban Xinjiang goods altogether.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said it was a “significant step” which came after MPs fought hard.
He urged all other government bodies to implement the same regulations, saying: “We will send the strongest signal to those around the world who exploit and terrorize those weaker than themselves, that the swords of justice are upon their trail.” are.”
Luke de Pulford, executive director of anti-slavery campaign group Arise, who was pushing for the change, said: “This is by far the most significant advance in supply chain regulation since the Modern Slavery Act in 2015 and in many ways goes much further.
“I know everyone in the anti-slavery movement is hoping that the rest of the government will follow the Health Secretary’s example and end slavery completely from our supply chains.”
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