CBP has released shipments targeted under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act based on “applicability," where the importer successfully proves the goods aren’t subject to the UFLPA because they aren’t connected to the Xinjiang region of China, a CBP official said. However, the agency has yet to see an attempt to prove goods subject to UFLPA aren’t made with forced labor, the official said.
CBP targeted 491 entries worth more than $158.6 million for suspected forced labor in September, CBP said in an operational update. That’s down from the 838 entries valued at over $266.5 million in August (see 2209210080). The number includes goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and withhold release orders, CBP said. CBP also said in its September operational update that it seized nearly 1,623 shipments that contained counterfeit goods worth more than $205 million for the month, and also completed 80 audits that identified $58.4 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government from goods improperly declared.
Advocacy groups expressed "outrage" over a recent proposal from trade participants in the 21st Century Customs Framework initiative to make ocean manifest data confidential, in an open letter to CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus dated Oct. 20.
The right third-party auditor is critical to the chances of success a foreign supplier may have in getting a withhold release order lifted on its products, customs lawyer Jessica Rifkin of Ben L. England and Associates said on Oct. 20. “The most important decision” that a producer can make is selecting an auditor whose results will be "credible and reliable,” she said during a webinar hosted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.
Trade participants in the 21st Century Customs Framework “focus group” are set to meet with CBP and other government officials Oct. 17 and 18 to discuss a series of proposed statutory changes developed over recent weeks that aim to incorporate facilitation measures into upcoming customs modernization legislation.
The 75 amendments that will be voted on as a package with the Senate's National Defense Authorization Act include the INFORM Consumers Act, a piece of legislation that shifts more responsibility to online marketplaces to root out counterfeit goods.
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The Department of Labor is requesting comments to inform development of the government’s 2014 edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and possible updates to the List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor, as needed, DOL said Oct. 4. DOL is requesting commenters provide information to its Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking by Dec. 16. Further, DOL also seeks comments to inform the next edition of the Worst Forms of Child Labor report, an annual review that fulfills a statutory mandate tasking the labor secretary with reporting findings with regard to Generalized System of Preferences countries’ implementation of international commitments to eliminate the “worst forms of child labor,” DOL said.
Two House Republicans, including the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to the CBP commissioner to ask him to explain how CBP screens products containing Chinese critical minerals, and to detail "the methodologies used to gather intelligence about forced labor in critical mineral supply chains and whether you believe these methodologies are sufficient?"
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.