Forced Labor/Human Rights

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On February 23, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued new guidance for importers on the agency’s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) enforcement web page. This includes additional guidance in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs), guidance setting forth best practices for submitting documentation to prove that detained goods are not subject…

On February 3, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) issued a determination in the Federal Register providing notice that it has determined that palm oil and various derivatives thereof “are no longer being mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with the use of convict, forced, or indentured labor by the Sime Darby…

Effective December 16, 2022, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Final Rule adding 36 Chinse entities to BIS’s Entity List. These additions are intended to further restrict China’s “ability to leverage artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and other powerful, commercially available technologies for military modernization and human rights abuses,” according…

On December 9, 2022, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Chinese individuals and a vast network fishing vessels they control, including Pingtan Marine Enterprise Ltd. (PME) and Dalian Ocean Fishing Co., Ltd. (Dalian), for perpetrating serious human rights abuses and corruption via illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Although…

On November 18, 2022, Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) director Manual Garza announced that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) added three new forced labor benefits for its trade compliance partners “to the greatest extent possible and practical effective immediately.” These benefits include:

  • Front of the Line Admissibility Review: CTPAT trade compliance members who have

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On November 23, 2022, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) that mandates CBP personnel at all U.S. ports of entry detain raw sugar and sugar-based products produced in the Dominican Republic by Central Romana Corporation Limited (Central Romana). This WRO followed an investigation that reasonably indicated Central Romana uses forced…

UPDATE: On November 1, 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a message announcing that implementation of its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Region Alert is postponed until further notice. CBP stated that its Office of Trade “is actively working with impacted users to address concerns” and that a new implementation date will…

On July 6, 2022, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a notice seeking public comments to assist in the development of a forced labor trade strategy. The notice indicates that the strategy “will identify priorities and establish an action plan for utilizing existing and potential new trade tools to combat forced labor…

During meetings among the G7 leaders on June 28, 2022, President Joseph Biden and the other G7 leaders committed to a “unified approach to confront” China’s trade-distorting industrial directives.  According to a White House Fact Sheet, such actions will include:

  • sharing insights and best practices to identify, monitor and minimize vulnerabilities and logistic bottlenecks

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Key Notes:

  • Effective June 21, 2022, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) establishes a rebuttable presumption that all goods produced, mined or manufactured in the Xinjiang region of China or by certain entities designated to the UFLPA Entity List are produced with forced labor and prohibited from entry into the United States.
  • The prohibition

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