U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an operational guidance for importers on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which imposes a rebuttable import ban on materials or inputs from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region effective June 21. Highlights of this guidance, which is intended to complement the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force’s strategy guidance and UFLPA entity list expected to be published June 21, include the following.
- Enforcement of the UFLPA and application of the rebuttable presumption will apply to goods imported on or after June 21.
- Importers may identify additional shipments that have identical supply chains to those that have been reviewed previously and determined to be admissible by CBP to facilitate faster release of identical shipments.
- The detention process for UFLPA will be under 19 USC 1499.
- UFLPA exception requests are differentiated from scope decisions.
- Seizures are possible under the UFLPA process.
- CTPAT members will be given review priority for UFLPA exception requests.
- Companies should be wary of factories that have dual sources of polysilicon because it will be harder to prove no commingling.
- Companies are encouraged to map all entities in their supply chains and trace records related to the production of goods back to the material source.
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg offers a comprehensive suite of services to help companies address forced labor concerns in China and elsewhere, including supply chain reviews, due diligence strategies, and proactive remediation. ST&R also maintains a frequently updated web page offering a broad range of information on forced labor-related efforts in the U.S. and around the world. For more information, please contact ST&R at supplychainvisibility@strtrade.com.
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