CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP will on May 20 deploy automated Form 6051D detention notices in ACE, including for Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions, the agency said in an April 21 CSMS message. “This enhancement will give importers the ability to view, search, and respond to CBP Form 6051D using the ACE Forms application accessible through the ACE Secure Data Portal,” CBP said.
CBP officials gave importers most of the credit for the quicker releases from detention when the government has decided there is no nexus to Xinjiang. In an interview in Boston on early implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, AnnMarie Highsmith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP's Office of Trade, said: "Importers are working harder to be prepared before their merchandise hits the water. They're learning their supply chains. They're simplifying their supply chains. I'd love to say it's us, but it's not. The importers are doing a better job."
A team at Sheffield Hallam University has identified 55,000 companies involved in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), including 3,300 companies operating in textiles and 150 companies where there is "significant evidence of participation in state-sponsored transfer of legal labor," SHU professor Laura Murphy said at a hearing on April 18. The hearing was held by the Congressional-Executive Committee on China titled the "Implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act & the Global Supply Chain Impact."
BOSTON -- In breakout sessions on operational perspectives on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and the technology that can help importers do UFLPA due diligence, CBP officials acknowledged that it's hard to provide the sort of evidence required to clear an applicability review after goods are detained.
CBP in March identified 400 shipments valued at more than $122.7 million for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational update. That's close to February's total of 481 shipments valued at more than $109 million (see 2303150067). CBP also seized 1,798 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $335 million, and completed 29 audits that identified $24.7 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government for goods that had been improperly declared, the agency said.