The CBP Office of Field Operations proposes to add a "social compliance" piece to the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program as part of the effort to stop imports made with forced labor, it said in a strategy document. CBP released the document ahead of the Dec. 5 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting in Herndon, Virginia. According to draft recommendations from the COAC Secure Trade Lanes Subcommittee, adoption of the forced labor strategy document will be recommended.
CBP posted a webinar and presentation from August focused on the agency's enforcement of prohibitions on imports made with forced labor. The webinar included government speakers from CBP and the Labor and State departments.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Dec. 5 in Herndon, Virginia, CBP said in a notice.
While President Donald Trump removed African Growth and Opportunity Act eligibility from Mauritania due to the use of forced labor (see 1811050019), CBP wouldn't say whether it also plans to take action. "CBP cannot comment about upcoming or pending [withhold release orders], or other actions, as they constitute law enforcement actions," a CBP spokesman said. "CBP takes all allegations of forced labor seriously and continues to monitor this situation for links to U.S. imports." CBP can issue WROs and take other action related to imports believed to be made with the use of forced labor.
Mauritania, which exported about $54.9 million in goods to the U.S. last year under trade preferences, will be barred from the African Growth and Opportunity Act at the beginning of 2019, because of its continuing problem with forced labor. Virtually all of the imports that are covered by AGOA are fuel, though the U.S. does import a few million dollars' worth of fish, fertilizers and other products. President Donald Trump sent a notification of the change to Congress on Nov. 2.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2018 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes one new rulemaking involving the Craft Beverage Modernization Act. The agency will try to issue an interim final rule by December this year that "eliminates a restriction pertaining to CBP’s authority to refund excessive duties, taxes, fees, or interest imposed on distilled spirits, wine, and beer," it said.
The structure of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will be updated in order to mirror CBP's mission and to allow for quicker reaction to events, said Bradley Hayes, CBP executive director of trade relations, during the Oct. 3 COAC meeting. The number of subcommittees will go from six to four for this COAC term, he said. The four subcommittees and underlying work groups are:
CBP is "conducting integration testing to prove compatibility of a blockchain platform with multiple partner systems," according to an update from the emerging technologies working group ahead of the Oct. 3 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting. CBP began an initial "proof of concept" in September as the agency considers the potential for the distributed ledger technology (see 1808200040). "Portions of the NAFTA / CAFTA import process, specifically verification of intellectual property and relationships between licensees and licensors, have been identified as good candidates for improvement if a transition to a more digitized, decentralized system is undertaken," it said.
House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., asked in a Sept. 19 letter that the Government Accountability Office review CBP's enforcement of a prohibition on imports made with forced labor. Grijalva specifically seeks that the GAO look at "illicit labor practices related to the seafood supply chain." Since the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act closed a forced labor loophole in 2016, "CBP's level of enforcement of Section 307 does not match the prevalence of forced labor in global supply chains," Grijalva said. The GAO letter is similar to another letter organized by Grijalva to be sent to the secretaries of the departments of Commerce, State and Homeland Security (see 1809100013).
House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., is circulating a letter among lawmakers to be sent to the secretaries of the departments of Commerce, State and Homeland Security that calls for tougher enforcement on forced labor involved in the seafood supply chain. "We urge your Departments to ensure that the United States does not import any seafood associated with human trafficking, from Thailand or any other country," the letter says. Grijalva is seeking other lawmakers to sign onto the letter by Sept. 12.