The four leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a Democrat and a Republican from each chamber, are asking appropriators to fully fund the CBP request of $70.3 million to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, for more employees, technology and training.
CBP recently posted an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and forced labor withhold release order enforcement mechanisms. The table provides citations of the legal basis behind detention, appeal, evidentiary level and authorization under the UFLPA and WRO processes.
A few days after the majority of senators said they want Taiwan to be included in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (see 2205180034), U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai issued a readout of a May 20 meeting with a top Taiwanese official that made no mention of IPEF. Tai said she met with Taiwan’s Minister-Without-Portfolio John Deng, and said that they discussed "opportunities to deepen the economic relationship, advance mutual trade priorities based on shared values, and promote innovation and inclusive economic growth for their workers and businesses." It said they also discussed how Taiwan and the U.S. both want to fight forced labor, and how important supply chain traceability is.
Sidley Austin Partner Ted Murphy noted in his blog that while it is not easy to document that imports do not contain Xinjiang content, "we believe that it will be easier (and quicker) for most companies to demonstrate that articles do not contain Xinjiang content (or production by yet-to-be listed entities), than it will be to rebut the presumption of forced labor (which is likely to be a long-drawn out process)."
Applied DNA Sciences recently received a first request for traceable tagged cotton "that is directly attributable to the recent passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," the company said in an earnings news release. The company's CertainT platform is described as allowing for raw materials and products to be traced through unique molecular identifiers. "Our team has presented to many members of Congress, Federal agencies, and Committees regarding the utility of our platform in enforcing the Act," the company said. "Though not expected to be material to revenue in the current fiscal year, the shipment anticipates a global brand’s multi-year commitment to our CertainT platform through a scaled deployment across its many supply chains. We believe that the passage of the Act is a trigger point for the wider adoption of our CertainT platform that holds the potential for molecular taggant sales for textile fiber applications to become a second material revenue stream," it said. "With less than 45 days before the Act goes into force, we believe interest in CertainT by brands and their supply chains has never been higher.”
CBP is ready for the June start date of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, John Leonard, deputy executive assistant commissioner of the CBP Office of Trade told a textile conference audience. However, Leonard acknowledged that CBP won't have identified factories outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that employ Uyghurs or members of other persecuted groups by the start of enforcement. Those goods are also supposed to be blocked under the UFLPA.
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The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and the likelihood that the EU will pass a due diligence directive requiring disclosure of forced labor risk for large companies are changing the paradigm of supply chain visibility, a top Labor Department official said during a webinar on human rights in global supply chains. Thea Lee, a long-time union official and now deputy undersecretary for international affairs in the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, said, "I do think that we are in a new era, and it will behoove most companies to start taking these steps to be able to have the eyes into their supply chain whether they are directly impacted right now by the EU directive or whether they are selling goods into the United States."
TUCSON, Arizona -- CBP will be issuing its guidance on the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act prior to the new law’s June 21 effective date, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in remarks at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference May 4. The guidance, which will “provide transparency to CBP’s operational approach,” will be out “very, very soon,” he said.
TUCSON, Arizona -- As CBP develops its 21st Century Customs Framework, the role of the customs broker will change in ways that reflect the new era of economic competition and “national economic security” concerns, Brandon Lord, deputy executive director of CBP’s Office of Trade Policy and Programs, said May 3 at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference.