President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Act Dec. 23. Under the act, the rebuttable presumption that goods with a nexus to China's Xinjiang province are made with forced labor will begin June 21.
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CBP issued a withhold release order on disposable gloves “produced in Malaysia by Brightway Holdings Sdn Bhd, Biopro (M) Sdn Bhd, and Biopro (M) Sdn Bhd (collectively, Brightway Group)," the agency said in a news release Dec. 20. Brightway is one of several Malaysian companies named in recent forced labor allegations by Andy Hall, a British human rights activist (see 2105240022). “Forced Labor is a human rights abuse inflicted upon 25 million people worldwide,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said. “CBP will not allow goods tainted with forced labor to make their way into American households and businesses.”
The Seafood Import Monitoring Program Expansion that was going to be in the bipartisan infrastructure bill did not become law, but H.R. 3075 passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee in October, and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is warning the majority leader that he should not schedule a vote in the chamber for the bill.
Liberty Shared, an anti-slavery non-governmental organization, recently filed a petition with CBP to "investigate the possibility that seafood imports from Ireland" involve forced labor, the International Transport Workers' Federation said in a blog post. “The President of the EU Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, has issued a number of statements over the last few months ostensibly taking a firm stand against forced labour and human trafficking," said Michael O'Brien, ITWF fisheries campaign lead. A CBP "investigation into an EU Member State should make European officials sit up and take notice." Liberty Shared, which previously filed petitions with CBP about British online fashion retailer Boohoo and UK apparel suppliers (see 2103030055), didn't return a request for comment. Liberty Shared's Managing Director Duncan Jebson said on LinkedIn that he is pleased to get support from ITWF.
Now that the bill that would create a rebuttable presumption that goods with Xinjiang inputs were made with forced labor has passed Congress and will likely be signed by President Biden, apparel trade groups and retail trade groups say they're ready to work with the administration on the strategy to implement the law.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was able to get unanimous consent for a bill that will create a rebuttable presumption that goods with Xinjiang content are made with forced labor. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which was already approved in the House, now heads to the president's desk. After it is signed, agencies will have 180 days to develop guidance for importers on due diligence and what sort of evidence would be adequate to prove goods are not made with forced labor. The shift of the burden of proof to importers will also begin 180 days after enactment.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sought unanimous consent to pass the compromise text of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act on Dec. 15, but Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., prevented quick approval of the bill after Rubio declined to attach a child tax credit extension. Passage will likely have to wait until sometime in 2022 at the soonest because of Wyden's action.
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.
Senate and House lawmakers reached an agreement on compromise text that merges versions of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act from each chamber, and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told International Trade Today on Dec. 14 that he hopes the new bill can pass the House later in the day. It is scheduled for a vote after 6 p.m. McGovern continued to say his version had been stronger than the one written by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., but said he had to consider what could get through the Senate. Rubio's bill passed the Senate under unanimous consent this summer.