6256 - Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, DHS Press Release on UFLPA Public Comment Period, Federal Register Notice Seeking Public Comment. In one case, a batch of graduates from a so-called vocational training center in south Xinjiang were transferred directly to a factory in the eastern Anhui province, according to a government report. The tech industry at large relies on suppliers in China, and The Information reports that these companies have also worked with Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, among others. A number of previous reports have implicated these companies in the past for example, Luxshare and Lens Technology were both linked to forced labor in bombshell reports from The Information and The Washington Post, although those reports pertained to Apples questionable history of suppliers. Workers can be jailed for refusing to join the work programs, the report says, and those enrolled in the programs are often moved far from their homes. This statute expands on those earlier efforts and is likely to impact a large number of U.S. companies, non-U.S. companies engaged in manufacturing or distribution in the United States, and other importers. report from the Tech Transparency Project, including internment camps, constant surveillance, mass sterilization, and forced labor, Tesla faced criticism for opening a showroom in the Xinjiang region, Mark Zuckerberg says Meta now has a team building AI tools and personas, Whoops! The entities to be added to the Entity List in connection with participating in the practice of, accepting, or utilizing forced labor involving Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the XUAR are: Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan) Co., Ltd. Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd. Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd. Thereport listedpopular clothing companies Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Gap, Calvin Klein, H&M, L.L.Bean, Lacoste,Nike, The North Face, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Skechers, Tommy Hilfiger, Zara, and Victorias Secret, as well as General Motors, Goertek, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagon, and more. The UFLPA includes a process for importers to show via clear and convincing evidence that an imported item from the XUAR or linked to additional listed entities was not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor. In addition to providing such evidence, Section 3(b) of the UFLPA requires (A) compliance with forthcoming guidance under Section 2(d)(6) on due diligence, effective supply chain tracing, and supply chain management measures to ensure that such importers do not import any goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor from the Peoples Republic of China, especially from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and (B) cooperation with CBP in completely and substantively answering inquiries and information requests. Many Chinese have called for boycotts,. For further inquiries, please contact the UFLPA Entity List Team atFLETF.UFLPA.EntityList@hq.dhs.gov. Apple and Amazon arent the only US-based companies with ties to Xinjiang and forced labor, either. The Act requires CBP to apply the rebuttable presumption unless the importer can overcome the presumption of forced labor by establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the good, ware, article, or merchandise was not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor. (Amazon and Facebook told The Information they wouldnt work with suppliers using forced labor; Google and Microsoft didnt respond. The entities to be added to the Entity List in connection with participating in the practice of, accepting, or utilizing forced labor involvingUyghurs and otherMuslim minority groups in the XUAR are: This Entity List rule supplements other Entity List designations in October 2019, June 2020, and July 2020. Best practices for compliance and supply chain due diligence still are evolving. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The Biden administration has been vocal about human rights in China and other jurisdictions, and efforts to enforce supply chain ethics appear to have bipartisan support. This op-ed was originally published by the New York Times on January 20, 2021. I was born in a re-education camp at the height of China's infamous Cultural Revolution. Some companies have even advertised their ability to supply Uighur workers through online bookings. The Chinese government forcibly relocates Uyghur men and women away from their homes and existing jobs to cotton fields. The report estimates that more than 80,000 Uighurs were transferred to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019. The report accuses Amazon of continuing to work with these suppliers, despite evidence of their association with Uyghur labor camps. BuzzFeed News reported finding more than 100 detention facilities located beside factories. Additional license requirements apply to exports, re-exports, and transfers (in-country) of items subject to the EAR to listed entities, and the availability of most license exceptions is limited. As always, our focus is on making sure everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and we will continue doing all we can to protect workers in our supply chain, Rosenstock added. Do not buy products made with the tears of modern-day Uyghur slaves. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The ECCHR said that the companies have been complicit "directly or indirectly" in the forced labour of members of the Muslim Uyghur minority in China's Xinjiang province. Official websites use .gov Using Amazon's June 2021 supplier list, the TTP said it found five of the companies on the list had publicly known links to forced labor programs called "labor transfers," which. This action targets these entities ability to access commodities, software, and technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and is part of a U.S. Government-wide effort to take strong action against Chinas ongoing campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the XUAR. Byler said the Chinese government's use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region has long been established, but has stepped up since 2017, when the most recent crackdown on Uighurs began. Apple lists both . The report did not document factories using Uyghur labor. Further complicating the matter are Chinas poverty alleviation and pairing assistance programs, some of which forcibly relocate Uyghur and other minorities as laborers outside of Xinjiang. Please note that this notice may serve as an aggravating factor should CBP take enforcement action upon determining future violations of the Act. Major solar companies including GCL-Poly, East Hope Group, Daqo New Energy, Xinte Energy and Jinko Solar are named in the report as bearing signs of using some forced labor, according to. Apple, which has saidthat it is committed to donating to organizations that challenge racial injustice and mass incarceration, is not the only company to come under scrutiny for its links to slave labor. The UFLPA also requires the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security, and in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and Director of National Intelligence, to develop and submit to Congress a strategy for supporting CBPs enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to goods, wares, articles, and merchandise produced with forced labor in the Peoples Republic of China. or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. In advance of June 21st, CBP will be issuing letters to importers identified as having previously imported merchandise that may be subject to the Act to encourage those importers to address any forced labor issues in their supply chains in a timely manner. An official website of the United States government. Many consumers are now boycotting Primark, but the brand is still expanding. CBP's UFLPA importer guidance is available at CBP.gov. Written by USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel. Please immediately end any sourcing from companies complicit in using forced labor, and discontinue any business relations with them. Put On The Gas. Build a Morning News Brief: Easy, No Clutter, Free! They are grouped into different categories and listed below. Some Uighurs have allegedly been placed in these factories straight from the internment camps in Xinjiang, where experts estimate more than 1.5 million members of ethnic minorities are being held. The level of evidence remains to be clarified by CBP. The enforcement strategy, and how much companies will need to do to satisfy the law, remains to be seen. However, existing CBP guidance for WROs indicates a demanding standard for documentation and tracing. CBP is urging importers to be proactive and closely review their supply chains to ensure any goods or materials are not sourced from the XUAR in violation of the Act. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Looking ahead, this focus on supply chain ethics appears to reflect a trend and not a blip. This enhanced enforcement already is underway. (LockA locked padlock) Brands Can't Confidently Say No. In anticipation of the rebuttable presumption becoming effective on June 21, 2022, an implementation strategy and guidance for the trade community will be issued to ensure compliance with the Act. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact, Immigration Expert Says Bidens Immigration Plans Could Provide Amnesty for Millions of People, At Princeton, a Racial Reckoning and a Free Speech Battle. 1307) to prevent the importation into the United States of goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the Peoples Republic of China. This will involve opportunities for public comment and ultimately a report to Congressional committees by June 21, 2022 (the Task Force Strategy Report). The factory, Haoyuanpeng Clothing Manufacturing Co. Ltd, lists Fila, Adidas, Puma and Nike among its clients. As the TTP points out, Amazons supply chain standards (PDF) specifically rule out forced labor. This situation poses new risksreputational and legalfor companies and consumers purchasing goods from China, as products made in any part of the country, not just in Xinjiang, may have passed through the hands of forced labourers, the authors said. We will continue doing all we can to protect workers and ensure they are treated with dignity and respect, the spokesperson said. In a spring 2020 report report titledUyghurs For Sale, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute found that at least 83 popular, household-name brands are potentially directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur workers outside Xinjiang through abusive labour transfer programs as recently as 2019.. The UFLPA also appears to envision a supply chain compliance program meeting certain minimum standards. The report and process for its preparation also are designed to help CBP improve its capacity to administer the import ban. To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra: [HOT] Read Latest COVID-19 Guidance, All Aspects [SCHEDULE] Upcoming COVID-19 Webinars & Online Programs, [GUIDANCE] COVID-19 and Force Majeure Considerations, [GUIDANCE] COVID-19 and Employer Liability Issues. The TTP pinpoints five companies on Amazons supplier list (available as a CSV file in the small print below the pages supply chain map) that have been publicly denounced for being directly or indirectly connected to the forced labor of Chinas Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region.

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