Sabrina A Bandali appeared Before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade

Sabrina A. Bandali appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade as part of the committee’s study on the relevance and urgency of introducing legislation that would prohibit the importation of goods produced by forced labour. The study was launched after the committee noted that from January 1 2024 to June 25 2025 Canadian authorities intercepted 34 shipments on suspicion of forced labour and only one was confirmed to involve forced labour. Over the same period thousands of shipments were detained in the United States under a more robust enforcement framework.

In her testimony Sabrina drew on her experience in international trade, customs law and supply chain compliance to provide insight into the gaps in the current Canadian regime and the challenges businesses face in navigating evolving expectations. She highlighted the importance of alignment with Canada’s major trading partners to reduce compliance uncertainty for Canadian importers and exporters and to support meaningful enforcement at the border.