Forced Labor

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On March 30, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security released a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding human rights concerns and export controls. The FAQs address BIS’ authority under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to consider human rights concerns when reviewing export license applications, and states that exporters “are expected…

In December 2021, the United States, Australia, Denmark and Norway announced the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative to address export controls and human rights particularly in the area of misuse of certain advanced technologies by authoritarian governments for surveillance and human rights abuses. See Update of December 14, 2021. Since that meeting, the…

On March 28, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to confirm that the foreign policy interest of protecting human rights worldwide is a basis for adding entities to the Entity List. Specifically, this Final Rule amends 15 C.F.R. § 744.11 of the EAR regarding…

On March 14, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an interactive web page providing forced labor enforcement statistics under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). CBP launched this “UFLPA statistics dashboard” to provide a single source of data on UFLPA enforcement actions. The dashboard provides information on the number of…

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…