The law, which is expected to be implemented across the EU by 2023, will also affect non-EU registered businesses trading across the EU.

It will require EU companies with more than 500 employees and a turnover of €150m (£124m) to prevent human rights and environmental abuses along their full supply chains, by carrying out due diligence.

Companies with more than 250 employees and turnover of €40m and non-EU companies that exceed these turnover thresholds are also to be affected while SMEs will be exempt.

The directive states that companies need to identify actual or potential human rights issues such as child labour and exploitation of workers, environmental impacts such as pollution and biodiversity loss, and effects from climate change and must include the company’s long-term approach and measures to identify, prevent, and ‘bring to an end’ these impacts.

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