Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said May 23 that there are plans to scale up efforts to expand the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List “in the coming weeks and months”, following a recent decision to add 26 China-based cotton traders and warehouse facilities to the list.
The UFLPA Entity List is a consolidated register of the four lists required to be developed and maintained under that law: (1) entities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that mine, produce, or manufacture wholly or in part any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise with forced labor, (2) entities working with the XUAR government to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the XUAR, (3) entities that exported products made by any of the above entities from China into the U.S., and (4) facilities and entities, including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, that source material from the XUAR or from persons working with the XUAR government or the XPCC for purposes of the “poverty alleviation” program or the “pairing-assistance” program or any other government-labor scheme that uses forced labor.
The UFLPA establishes a rebuttable presumption that goods made wholly or in part in the XUAR are made with forced labor and are therefore excluded from entry into the U.S. CBP applies this presumption to goods mined, produced, or manufactured by entities on the UFLPA Entity List, which are thus prohibited from importation into the U.S. under 19 USC 1307. With the most recent additions there are currently 65 companies on this list.
Mayorkas indicated that there are currently “further case referrals in the pipeline” for addition to the UFLPA Entity List. He said U.S. Customs and Border Protection will use its risk-based methodologies to examine entries using the de minimis flexibility to ensure that companies do not take advantage of this provision, and stressed that strict enforcement in reviewing entries will continue, whether from China or third countries, including U.S. FTA partners. “We will maximize utilization of our enforcement tools and strategies to prioritize high-risk entries and will impose civil penalties on egregious actors that try to circumvent our laws”, added Mayorkas.
Mayorkas also noted that Homeland Security Investigations is actively pursuing investigations of possible violations and criminal prosecution, as warranted by the facts and the law, with the support of the Center for Countering Human Trafficking.
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg has a robust program to assist companies on forced labor issues. 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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