CBP issued a withhold release order for imported garments produced by the Hero Vast Group, the agency said in an Aug. 11 news release. Effective Aug. 11, CBP will stop goods produced by Hero Vast, which includes “Shanghai Hero Vast International Trading Co., Ltd.; Henan Hero Vast Garment Co., Ltd.; Yuexi Hero Vast Garment Co., Ltd.; Ying Han International Co., Ltd.; and Hero Vast Canada Inc.,” CBP said. It said the WRO is based on information that “that reasonably indicated the use of prison labor in the production of those garments.” Under the WRO, CBP will detain such cargo at all ports of entry. Importers of the goods can either re-export the detained shipments or provide information to CBP to demonstrate the goods are not produced with forced labor.
CBP posted a list of “helpful hints” for submitting proof of admissibility for goods subject to withhold release orders due to possible forced labor involvement. The fact sheet also includes information on how to request a WRO revocation or modification. “WROs/findings may be revoked or modified if evidence shows the subject merchandise was not made with forced labor, is no longer being produced with forced labor, or is no longer being, or likely to be, imported,” into the U.S., CBP said. Suggested helpful documentation includes copies of “recent unannounced third party audits,” company policies and “evidence of their implementation,” and remediation plans, CBP said. Also helpful are “supply chain maps that specify locations of manufacturers, factories, farms, processing centers,” it said.
CBP updated its withhold release order on tobacco from Malawi so “tobacco imported from Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company Ltd. (LLTC) will be admissible at all U.S. ports of entry” as of July 31, the agency said in an Aug. 1 news release. CBP issued the original WRO in 2019 (see 1911010026). CBP “modified the WRO based on a rigorous evaluation of LLTC’s social compliance program and efforts to identify and minimize the risks of forced labor from its supply chain,” it said. “These actions produced evidence that sufficiently supports LLTC’s claims that tobacco from its farms is not produced and harvested using forced labor.” The update is proof of “the power of WROs to induce positive change in U.S. supply chains,” said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade. CBP previously updated the WRO for another company for similar reasons (see 2006030037). “The WRO continues to apply to imports of tobacco from Malawi by any company that has not demonstrated to CBP that there is no forced labor in its supply chain,” CBP said.
At the first of two Senate Finance Committee hearings on securing the medical supply chain, senators learned that Homeland Security Investigations has opened 570 cases, and, cooperating with CBP, has stopped “900 shipments of mislabeled, fraudulent, or unauthorized COVID-19 test kits, treatment kits, homeopathic remedies, purported anti-viral products, and” personal protective equipment.
Nearly 200 unions and nonprofit organizations asked fashion brands “to cut all ties with suppliers implicated in forced labor and end all sourcing from the Uyghur Region, from cotton to finished garments, within twelve months,” a July 23 news release said. The groups criticized a Retail Industry Leaders Association statement that it does not tolerate forced labor, and that conditions in Xinjiang make auditing supply chains difficult. The advocates say that RILA has “offered no credible explanation” as to how apparel brands and retailers can avoid forced labor “while continuing to do business in a region where forced labor is rife.”
The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act includes an amendment from Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., that directs the Pentagon to issue rules requiring companies that sell at military base commissaries and that import either products or materials from the Xinjiang province to audit their supply chains to ensure their goods are not manufactured using forced labor. Companies that discover a connection to Uighur camps or forced relocations would need to tell the Defense Department whether “they intend to continue sourcing from the region if their supply chains are tainted by forced labor,” Wexton said in a news release. The bill passed the House July 21.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill that would compel companies to disclose what they are doing to “eradicate forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking from their supply chains,” and would require independent audits at major companies to ensure they are not complicit in forced labor in their supply chains. “If corporate America wants to be the face of social change today, they should have to certify they are completely slave-free,” Hawley said in a news release. “Participate in independent audits to verify it and disclose steps to ensure slave labor won’t become part of the equation later on. And if they refuse to do so, they should pay the price. That’s social responsibility.”
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CBP may have trouble allowing importers to “remediate” forced labor issues, including by way of grace periods, before it prohibits imports of goods produced using forced labor, said Ana Hinojosa, executive director of CBP’s Trade Remedy and Law Enforcement Division, at the July 15 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. Hinojosa was responding to a COAC recommendation that CBP allow importers to attempt to address forced labor issues prior to any CBP withhold release order (WRO) taking effect (see 2007100030). That way, importers could use their leverage over suppliers to try to get their suppliers to change their practices. But by law, if CBP determines that goods are produced via forced labor, then imports of those goods are deemed prohibited, Hinojosa said. CBP does not have the discretion to have prohibited goods enter the U.S., she said.
The Treasury Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda doesn't include any new actions related to Treasury's customs revenue functions. The agenda lists Treasury's CBP rulemakings that are pending at the proposed, interim final, final and completed stages, as well as rulemakings that are long-term actions. The agenda lists the regulation title; past regulation(s), if any; the time frame for the next regulatory action(s), if any; a brief description of the regulation; and a contact party name and telephone number.