Fashion Industry Asks Congress for Help on Forced Labor Compliance
Fashion trade groups are asking Congress to ensure that withhold release orders are administrable, and that CBP is fully funded so that it can implement effective WROs to fight forced labor in Xinjiang. The American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the U.S. Fashion Industry Association wrote to leaders of both chambers of Congress from both parties saying they support legislation that builds on private sector efforts to root out forced labor in supply chains.
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The groups said that CBP offers no evidence when a WRO is issued, and that if Congress required it to be more transparent, it would enable importers to use that evidence in their own due diligence. The groups would also like the government to endorse and fund a “forced labor free” supplier certification process.
The Jan. 27 letter noted that CBP has contracted with Oritain USA for a pilot demonstration on identifying the origin of cotton in finished goods. “Any Congressional action should require CBP to report back to Congress and the public on the learnings from this demonstration pilot, to include actual or potential shortfalls or gaps in the capability, and enter into pilots with other vendors to similarly assess alternative capabilities to trace the origins of finished cotton products and other commodities,” the groups said. They also asked that before expanding the use of tracing tools, Congress should require CBP to operate a pilot program with importers “to determine reliability, scalability, cost constraints (including for small businesses), and appropriate risk tolerance.” They said 100% traceability of every input is not a current practice nor commercially feasible.