CBP should develop a new electronic platform incorporating its e-recordation system to improve intellectual property rights enforcement through better targeting and communication, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee said in recommendations adopted at the April 15 COAC meeting.
CBP posted multiple documents ahead of the April 15 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting:
CBP should update its regulations on prior disclosures to clarify the requirements and benefits of prior disclosures of forced labor violations, the Commercial Customs Operation Advisory Committee said in recommendations adopted at the April 15 COAC meeting. Regulations on forced labor should also be amended, and guidance documents issued, to clarify what should be included in a forced labor allegation, as well as how CBP should inquire about potential violations and how importers should respond, the COAC said.
CBP revoked a withhold release order on imports of tuna harvested from the Tunago No. 61 vessel, CBP said in a news release. “This decision was based on information obtained by CBP that tuna and tuna products from this vessel are no longer produced under forced labor conditions,” CBP said. The agency issued the WRO in 2019 (see 1902040017). This the second WRO revocation in recent weeks (see 2003250020).
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet April 15, remotely, beginning at 1 p.m., CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by April 14.
CBP's withdrawal of the Withhold Release Order on disposable rubber gloves made by a company in Malaysia (see 2003240066) followed an intensive information-sharing effort between the manufacturer and CBP, the agency said in a news release. The agency said it revoked the WRO “based on recent information obtained by CBP showing the company is no longer producing the rubber gloves under forced labor conditions.” CBP issues WROs to prevent imports of goods suspected of involving forced labor in the manufacturing process. The 2019 WRO applied to Disposable Rubber Gloves manufactured in Malaysia by WRP Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., along with the Trade Subcommittee and Intelligence Committee chairmen, and others, plan to ask the director of national intelligence to publicly release what information it has on forced labor, whether in camps or in factories where Uighurs are threatened they will be returned to detention if they do not work -- “especially information related to the textile and cotton industries, and the names of organizations and institutions benefiting from forced labor,” she wrote.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 9-13 in case they were missed.
A bill introduced by House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., in the House and by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the Senate would create a rebuttable presumption about forced labor in Xinjiang, China, which would mean any companies that import goods made in that region “must demonstrate through 'clear and convincing' evidence that there was no forced labor in their supply chains,” according to a release announcing the bill's introduction.
A Congressional-Executive Commission on China released a report on March 11 that spelled out a number of concerns around the use of forced labor in China. “The risk for complicity in forced labor is high for any company importing goods directly from [Xinjiang] or those partnering with a Chinese company operating in the region,” it said. The report recommended that the administration consider “issuing a comprehensive import ban on all goods produced, wholly or in part, in [Xinjiang] until a determination can be made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that [the province's] authorities and producers have ended the systematic use of forced labor“ of Muslim ethnic minorities. The CECC had a hearing on the issue last year (see 1910170039). The National Council of Textile Organizations said March 11 that it agrees with the CECC recommendations.