The outline of a new regulation banning products made with forced labour was approved by European Union lawmakers during the early hours of Tuesday.

The draft law would require member states to investigate products whether imported or made in the EU when there is a risk they were made with forced labour.

Should one member states investigators conclude that a product was indeed made with forced labour, a decision to ban the sale, import and export of the product would apply to all 27 countries of the EU.

Tuesdays deal was struck between negotiators for the European Parliament and the Belgian government, acting on behalf of all EU member states.

Some technical details of the legislation would still need to be worked out in further talks between parliamentary assistants and Belgian diplomats.

Once thats done, the draft would be sent to senior diplomats from all member states.

If they approved, the bill must pass a vote in the parliaments internal market and trade committees.

It then would be reviewed and polished by the EUs specialised lawyer-linguists before being put to a final vote in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

The council of the EU Is where national ministers vote on behalf of their member states. (dpa/NAN)