1. The Commission and the competent authorities of Member States shall follow a risk-based approach when assessing the likelihood of a violation of Article 3, when initiating and conducting the preliminary phase of the investigations and when identifying the products and economic operators concerned.

2. In their assessment of the likelihood of a violation of Article 3, the Commission and the competent authorities shall use the following criteria, as appropriate, in order to prioritise products suspected to have been made with forced labour:

(a) the scale and severity of the suspected forced labour, including whether forced labour imposed by state authorities could be a concern;

(b) the quantity or volume of products placed or made available on the Union market;

(c) the share of the part of the product suspected to have been made with forced labour in the final product.

3. The assessment of the likelihood of a violation of Article 3 shall be based on all relevant, factual, and verifiable information available to the Commission and competent authorities, including, but not limited to, the following: