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CBP posted its agenda (here) and some other agency documents for the upcoming Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting on July 27 in Boston. Among the posted items are recommendations for coming antidumping/countervailing duties evasions enforcement regulations from the COAC AD/CVD Working Group (here). That working group will recommend new CBP rules requiring customs brokers to report possible AD/CVD evasion, among other things, it said. The new enforcement regulations are a result of the customs reauthorization law's AD/CVD provisions, known as the ENFORCE Act, that take effect Aug. 22 (see 1602230080).
CBP will create a Forced Labor Working Group within CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), a CBP spokeswoman said by email on July 19. "This COAC Working Group comprises members from retail, seafood, and other key industries, along with experts in global human rights and supply chain integrity, and will enable CBP to more effectively and fairly enforce this important law," she said. The working group will help to improve communications between the agency and industry related to the end of the "consumptive demand" loophole for imports suspected of being made through forced labor, she said. The agency is "working with industry, civil society organizations, and others to rigorously enforce the law and prevent the import of goods made with forced, convict, or child labor into the United States," the spokeswoman said. "Key to this effort is ensuring that industry and civil society alike are clear on their obligations under the law, CBP’s standards for allegations and appeals, and how to ensure integrity in the global labor and supply chain." Lawmakers recently pushed CBP to revise its regulations on investigating forced labor imports (see 1607150042). The COAC next meets July 27 (see 1607080003).
CBP should revise its regulations to be able to initiate its own forced-labor goods investigations with help from the Department of Labor, Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in a July 14 letter to CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske (here). The annually "published List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor provides a useful starting point for CBP to identify targets for self-initiated investigation, and we urge you to consult closely with DOL on your enforcement efforts," Wyden and Brown said. CBP previously said it would use DOL forced labor information for its research, but that the DOL uses different standards for its reviews (see 1604220017).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 13-17 in case they were missed.
CBP implemented several important pieces of the customs reauthorization law during the first 100 days since enactment, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said in an overview of the efforts (here). Since President Barack Obama signed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (see 1602240042), "CBP has been working hard to implement the law’s key provisions, with a strong focus on bolstering our agency’s trade enforcement priorities," Kerlikowske said. He pointed to recently signed withhold release orders (see 1603310034 and 1605310019) for "certain shipments of soda ash, potassium, and Stevia products made with convict and forced labor in China." Those "enforcement actions rightly place CBP at the forefront of promoting human rights, and send a powerful signal to manufacturers and producers around the world," he said. The Office of Trade also implemented "a new process for swiftly and thoroughly reviewing allegations of evasion of Antidumping/Countervailing duty laws," which "helps domestic manufacturers and companies hurt by unfair, illegal trade practices," he said. Also notable are the new Trade Enforcement Task Force (see 1605030032), an increase to the de minimis value threshold (see 1603100010) and the formal recognition of the Centers of Excellence and Expertise, he said.
Exactly what regulatory changes CBP will seek under the customs reauthorization law's forced labor provisions is still uncertain, Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant commissioner for trade, said in a June 17 interview. At a minimum, CBP must change its regulations to reflect an effective close to the “consumptive demand” loophole (see 1604220017), but whatever else could be in any altered regulation is still an open question, she said. CBP is looking at a policy that’s “a little more flexible and nimble and can be responsive to a changing global environment,” and is holding several outreach sessions with the trade and labor communities at large “about what they need and how regulations could be helpful in ensuring that, as a country,” importation of forced labor goods is stopped, she said. There's some concern within the industry over potential new regulations for products made by forced labor (see 1605170017).
Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., would like more transparency in the process for petitioning investigations on goods suspected of being made with child or forced labor, they told Obama administration officials during a June 14 meeting. Such transparency is needed “so petitions are acknowledged and petitioners are informed of whether an investigation will be launched,” a Brown press release said (here). “The key to continuing our early success and making this prohibition as effective as possible is bringing together U.S. trade enforcers, human rights organizations, and the business community so that everyone is working in concert," said Wyden.
ARLINGTON, Va. -- CBP plans to reach out to importers and customs brokers over the next year to resolve uncertainty in the trade community over a recent uptick in import bans on goods produced by forced labor, Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant commissioner for trade, said at the American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference. Importers of products from countries or industries that have had “risks in the past around forced labor need to understand what we’re looking for,” Smith said June 6. Over the next four to 12 months, CBP will sit down with the trade community to “understand what you need to know to make sure you are compliant with the law,” she said. After not having issued any in more than a decade, CBP has already issued several withhold release orders (see 1603310034) in the months since the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 removed an exemption from bans on goods produced by forced labor (see 1603010043).
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