1. In order to facilitate the effective implementation and enforcement of this Regulation, the Commission shall, as appropriate, cooperate and exchange information with the authorities of third countries, international organisations, civil society representatives, trade unions, business organisations and other relevant stakeholders.

2. International cooperation with the authorities of third countries shall take place in a structured way, for example in the context of existing dialogues with third countries, such as human rights and political dialogues, dialogues on the implementation of the trade and sustainable development commitments of trade agreements or the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, and Union development cooperation initiatives. If necessary, specific dialogues may be created on an ad hoc basis. International cooperation may involve exchanges of information on forced labour risk areas or products, of best practices for bringing forced labour to an end, and of information on decisions to ban products, including their reasons and evidence, in particular with third countries that have similar legislation in place.

3. For the purposes of paragraph 2, the Commission and Member States may consider the development of cooperation initiatives and accompanying measures to support the efforts of economic operators, in particular SMEs, as well as civil society organisations, social partners and third countries to tackle forced labour and its root causes.