Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, arguing that CBP is not enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act he co-authored, as pharmaceuticals made in Xinjiang are entering the U.S.
Forced Labor
CBP is the primary U.S. agency tasked with combating forced labor in international trade. It is the only agency with legal authority to take enforcement action and prevent entry into domestic commerce of goods produced with forced labor. CBP combats forced labor by issuing Withhold Release Orders (WROs) and Findings, and enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Goods subject to WROs and Findings, UFLPA, and CAATSA status cannot be entered at any ports of the U.S.
CBP has issued a withhold release order, effective immediately, against frankincense supplier Asli Maydi of Somaliland over the alleged use of forced labor, the agency said Nov. 1.
DHS has updated its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List to include textile companies that allegedly use forced labor or source material from the Xinjiang autonomous region in China, and it removed one entity from one category of alleged violations and placed it in another category, according to a Federal Register notice.
DHS is adding more companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to a notice released Oct. 31. Esquel Group, also known as Esquel China Holdings Limited; Guangdong Esquel Textile; and Turpan Esquel Textile are being added for sourcing material from Xinjiang or from persons working with the government of Xinjiang or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for purposes of China's ‘‘poverty alleviation’’ program or ‘‘pairing-assistance’’ program, among other Chinese government labor schemes. The notice also appears to change the reason an already listed company, Changji Esquel Textile, is on the list, removing the company from one of the four lists that make up the broader UFLPA Entity List but adding it to another. The changes take effect Nov. 1.
Executives from FloraTrace, an isotopic testing service, and Rezylient, an UFLPA insurance product, told an audience of customs brokers that isotopic testing isn't just for cotton-containing products.
Four Democratic senators are asking the Treasury Department to end de minimis treatment for all e-commerce shipments, arguing that the regulations under development to restrict de minimis would not go far enough to curtail fentanyl smuggling.
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SAN DIEGO -- Customs brokers shouldn’t be dismissive or fearful of artificial intelligence tools because those tools' ability to analyze massive amounts of trade data enables brokers to focus on other aspects of the business, speakers on a panel said at the Pacific Coast Council’s Western Cargo Conference (WESCCON) last week.
In September, CBP flagged 425 shipments, valued at more than $65 million, for suspected use of forced labor, the agency said in a monthly update this week. This represents an increase, in terms of total value, from August, when CBP stopped 400 shipments valued at more than $53 million for the same reason (see 2409170009).
CBP will bolster a number of existing initiatives in the coming months aimed at preventing the import of products made with forced labor, said Katie Woodson, assistant director within the operations and forced labor divisions of CBP's Office of Trade, during a panel on forced labor at last week's Western Cargo Conference.