Forced labor has been a persistent topic in the world of supply chain for years but has grown in significance since around 2016 due in part to legislative actions taken in the United States. A great deal of information regarding forced labor and the global initiatives to prevent it is readily available. What is forced labor? The International Labour Organization has identified eleven indicators of forced labor, including isolation, restriction of movement, withholding wages, deception, excessive overtime, and intimidation.
In light of the recent implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the United States, Expeditors is committed to being an information resource for our customers on forced labor issues, including enforcement. Our goal is to explain, provide background and resources, and support our customers at whatever level of compliance they are at, always striving to enhance and improve compliance.
All goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in any foreign country by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal sanctions shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the United States, and the importation thereof is hereby prohibited…” Section 307, Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1307)
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforces this statute through two mechanisms – Withhold Release Orders (WRO) and Findings. If CBP has reasonable suspicion about the presence of forced labor in specific goods from a country, then a Withhold Release Order is used to detain those goods pending further review of the shipment. If CBP has conclusive evidence about the presence of forced labor in specific goods from a country, then a Finding is used to detain and seize those goods.
The more recent US act related to forced labor enforcement, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, went into effect June 2022. This act imposed an extensive import ban on goods mined, produced, manufactured in whole or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China or any goods made with forced labor from the XUAR, either within XUAR or forcibly transferred elsewhere in China.
This act effectively assumes all goods with a connection to XUAR were made with forced labor, therefore banning all trade made with XUAR entirely, unless clear and convincing evidence of no forced labor is made. CBP must notify US Congress of each exception within 30 days of the action.
