Forced-labor fears
Where the goods are coming from, however, isn’t clear, as importers are “entitled to bulk declare multiple consignments on this declaration without providing the country of origin,” HMRC information officers said.
Individual parcel‑level data is rare since multiple consignments can be included in a single declaration.
The lack of insight raises alarms about forced labor for David Alton, chair of the U.K. parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights.
The government’s inability to track the country of origin “is at odds with its international and domestic commitments to remove forced labour from U.K. supply chains, particularly following the growing expansion of air cargo routes between Xinjiang and the U.K.,” Alton said.
Reporting by POLITICO in collaboration with the Washington advocacy group, Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), showed last year that over 40 freight routes now connect the U.K. and Europe to airports in Xinjiang.
Those trade links delivering mostly low-value e-commerce imports continue to grow. Last month, a new airfreight cargo route was set up between Teesside International Airport and Xinjiang’s main airport.
“Rather than waiting until 2029 to close this loophole, the Government should act now and follow the example of the USA and the EU that are actively removing this loophole to the benefit of their taxpayers and domestic producers,” said David Alton.