The Home Office has made the Trafficking People for Exploitation (Amendment) Regulations 2026 using section 14(1) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023. The instrument removes statutory review clauses in two 2013 regulations and deletes a cross‑border provision derived from the EU e‑Commerce framework. It was made on 12 March 2026, laid before Parliament on 16 March, and comes into force on 6 April 2026 for England and Wales. (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 2 revokes regulation 6 of the Trafficking People for Exploitation Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/554), which imposed a five‑year review duty. This change does not alter offences or safeguards; it removes only the formal statutory requirement to conduct periodic reviews. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Regulation 3 makes two changes to the Electronic Commerce Directive (Trafficking People for Exploitation) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/817): it repeals regulation 8 (the five‑year review duty) and regulation 4 on “internal market: non‑UK service providers.” (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
The deletion of regulation 4 matters because, in 2013, it implemented the EU ‘country‑of‑origin’ principle for information society service providers established in the EEA, limiting UK proceedings unless specified public‑interest tests were met. Removing it ends that carve‑out in the trafficking context so EEA‑based platforms face the same UK rules as UK‑based providers. (publications.parliament.uk)
According to the Home Office’s explanatory material, the change aligns with broader post‑EU exit policy: the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology intends to remove the country‑of‑origin principle across UK legislation. Officials also state that the revocations do not increase regulatory burdens, consistent with the conditions attached to section 14 powers. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
The instrument extends to England and Wales only and makes no new offences or liabilities. It amends review machinery and a cross‑border jurisdictional gateway. No full impact assessment has been produced on the basis that no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Process‑wise, the measure was brought forward as a proposed negative instrument for sifting under Schedule 5 to the Retained EU Law Act. The instrument records that the Schedule 5(6)(2) requirements were satisfied before it was made and laid. Under sifting, proposed negatives proceed as negative SIs if the committees do not recommend the affirmative procedure. (gov.uk)
For operational teams, the effect is limited but specific. Prosecutors and policing units dealing with online facilitation of trafficking should update internal guidance and casework templates to reflect the removal of the country‑of‑origin limitation. In‑house counsel at EEA‑based information society service providers operating in England and Wales should assume UK trafficking rules now apply without the prior Directive‑based restriction.
The regulations were signed for the Home Office by Jess Phillips, Parliamentary Under‑Secretary of State, and come into force on Monday 6 April 2026. Ongoing monitoring of these regimes will continue through established policy workstreams rather than formal statutory reviews. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)