(1)

Pursuant to Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, the information and communication system referred to in Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), known as the Information and Communication System for Market Surveillance (‘ICSMS’), is to be used for the purposes of Chapters I (‘general provisions’), III (‘investigations’), IV (‘decisions’) and V (‘enforcement’) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, in accordance with the implementing act referred to in Article 7(7), point (a), of that Regulation.

(2)

To enable communications between the Commission and competent authorities of the Member States, among competent authorities themselves and between the competent authorities and customs authorities for the purposes of implementing and applying relevant provisions in Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, a new forced labour module of the information and communication system referred to in Article 7(1) of that Regulation should be created (‘ICSMS forced labour module’). The ICSMS forced labour module is to be used by the Commission, competent authorities and customs authorities for the purposes of those communications.

(3)

To ensure the effective application and enforcement of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, the Commission and competent authorities should also be able to access and use the information in the ICSMS forced labour module for purposes other than communications, including for performing risk-based assessments as provided for in Article 14(3), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 and the identification of products or product groups in accordance with Article 27(1) of that Regulation. For the same reason, customs authorities should also be able to access and use the information in the ICSMS forced labour module for the purposes of Article 7 and Chapter V, Section II, of that Regulation.

(4)

In order to ensure the protection of confidential information contained in the ICSMS forced labour module, in particular information shared during the course of investigations, access to the ICSMS forced labour module should be restricted to users designated by the Commission and competent authorities for the purposes of Chapters I, III, IV and V of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 and to users designated by customs authorities for the purposes of Article 7 and Chapter V, Section II, of that Regulation.

(5)

To ensure effective and efficient communications through the ICSMS forced labour module for the purposes of applying Chapters I, III, IV and V of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, and to allow for easy search of relevant data and its further processing, it is appropriate to further specify, in a standardised format, the data elements and information to be transmitted by the Commission and competent authorities related to investigations, decisions and enforcement.

(6)

To ensure the effective and efficient application of Articles 9 and 15 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, and in particular the effective and efficient allocation of investigations and submissions of information, the Commission should communicate to the lead competent authority the information submitted via the Single Information Submission Point that concerns alleged forced labour located in the territory of the Member State to which the lead competent authority belongs.

(7)

In order to achieve the effective and efficient application of Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 and, in particular, close cooperation between the Commission and competent authorities, as well as mutual assistance during investigations in accordance with Article 16(1) of that Regulation, it is necessary to set out in this Regulation the details of the information to be communicated through the ICSMS forced labour module by the lead competent authority or other competent authorities in a structured format. In particular, this Regulation should set out the details of communications by the lead competent authority or other competent authorities related to the sharing of information about suspected forced labour, requests for information and support, and requests to be closely involved in an investigation in accordance with Article 16(3) to (7) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, as well as communications by the lead competent authority of its conclusions on the non-initiation of an investigation and of each stage of an investigation, in accordance with Article 17(6), Article 18(2) and Article 20(7) of that Regulation.

(8)

In order to ensure the effective and efficient enforcement of decisions under Article 23 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, where the lead competent authority communicates decisions establishing a violation of Article 3 of that Regulation to other competent authorities and, where applicable, to the Commission, as required by Article 20(7) of that Regulation, the lead competent authority should be required to communicate certain information about those decisions in a structured format.

(9)

For the same purpose, when the lead competent authority communicates decisions establishing a violation of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 to customs authorities, as required by Article 26(3) of that Regulation, it should use appropriate means of communication to be specified in this Regulation.

(10)

In order to ensure the effective and efficient application of Articles 23 and 24 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, the relevant competent authority should communicate to the Commission and to other competent authorities information on the economic operator’s compliance with withdrawal and disposal orders contained in a decision. The relevant competent authority should also inform the Commission and other competent authorities of the penalties applied for non-compliance with a decision as referred to in Article 23(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015.

(11)

For the same purpose, the lead competent authority should communicate an electronic copy of a decision establishing a violation of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 and containing an order of withdrawal or disposal to market surveillance and to other relevant authorities.

(12)

In order to ensure the effective and efficient application of Articles 20, 21 and 23 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, the lead competent authority should be required to communicate the withdrawal of, or changes to, a decision establishing a violation of Article 3 of that Regulation, including the outcome of judicial appeal proceedings and related information, to other competent authorities and where applicable, to the Commission.

(13)

When communicating to customs authorities the withdrawal of, or changes to, a decision establishing a violation of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, in accordance with Article 26(5) of that Regulation, the lead competent authority should be required to communicate such withdrawal or changes, using appropriate means of communication to be specified in this Regulation.

(14)

In order to enable effective and efficient exchanges of relevant information between competent authorities and customs authorities, pursuant to Chapter V, Section II of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 and, in particular, Articles 28 to 30, details of the information to be exchanged should be set out in this Regulation.

(15)

Where the application of this Regulation entails the processing of personal data, it is to be carried out in accordance with Union law on the protection of personal data, in particular Regulations (EU) 2016/679 (3) and (EU) 2018/1725 (4) of the European Parliament and of the Council.

(16)

To ensure that personal data contained in the information communicated in the ICSMS forced labour module and personal data relating to natural persons designated as ICSMS users is erased when it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which that data was inserted in the system, and taking into account the need for data to be available for the performance of the risk-based assessments referred to in Article 14(3), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 as well as considering the length of possible review and appeal procedures referred to in Article 21 of that Regulation, the periods of retention of such data should be laid down in this Regulation.

(17)

Where personal data are no longer stored in the ICSMS forced labour module, it is necessary to ensure compliance with the storage limitation principle laid down in Article 4(1)(e) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

(18)

As regards the processing of personal data in the ICSMS forced labour module, the Commission should be considered to be a joint controller pursuant to Article 28(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, and competent authorities should be joint controllers pursuant to Article 26(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The Commission should enter into a joint controllership arrangement with competent authorities in order to establish the respective responsibilities and to ensure compliance with Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725.

(19)

The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and delivered an opinion on 13 March 2026.

(20)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the committee established by Article 35(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015,

(1)

information identifying the product(s) subject to its assessment;

(2)

information on the economic operator(s) subject to its assessment, including their name and address of establishment;

(3)

the reasons underpinning the lead competent authority’s assessment, including, where relevant, the lack of a substantiated concern or the elimination of a substantiated concern as referred to in Article 17(5) of that Regulation.

(1)

the status of the investigation (‘investigation initiated’);

(2)

information identifying the product(s) subject to the investigation;

(3)

information on the economic operator(s) subject to the investigation, including their name and address of establishment;

(4)

the date of initiation of the investigation;

(5)

a summary of the reasons for the initiation of the investigation;

(6)

a copy of the information notified to the economic operator(s).

(1)

a reference to the investigation that has been closed;

(2)

the status of the investigation (‘investigation closed’);

(3)

a copy of the information notified to the economic operator(s);

(4)

a summary of the reasons for closing the investigation (including, as the case may be, the lack of sufficient evidence or the elimination of substantiated concerns) and, where relevant, information on any field inspections conducted in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015;

(5)

the date of closure of the investigation.

(1)

the communication of the closure of a preliminary investigation, as referred to in Article 17(5) and (6) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015;

(2)

the communication of the closure of an investigation, as referred to in Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015;

(3)

the communication of a decision on violation, as referred to in Article 20(7) of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015;

(4)

the communication of the withdrawal of, or changes to, a decision establishing a violation of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 pursuant to Articles 20, 21 and 23 of that Regulation.

(5)

The personal data contained in the communications in the ICSMS forced labour module shall be automatically deleted on the last day of the retention period referred to in points (a), (b), (c) and (d).