CBP will delay until Dec. 15 its deployment of a new mandatory data element in ACE for goods with a country of origin of China, said a CBP spokesperson Oct. 26. The new UFLPA Region Alert capability in ACE will use a new mandatory data element for the Chinese manufacturer’s postal code to generate a warning message when a Uyghur region postal code has been provided, according to an earlier update to the agency’s ACE development schedule that had listed a scheduled deployment in November.
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.
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.
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.
CBP has yet to release a single shipment detained under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act since the law took effect in June, a CBP official recently told online news and commentary site The Dispatch in an interview. Eric Choy, acting executive director of CBP’s Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate, said the agency has yet to receive a request for UFLPA exception for goods from or connected to China’s Xinjiang region, though companies have attempted to demonstrate that detained goods are not from or tied to Xinjiang.
Between increased enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and a proposed EU bill banning the sale of goods made with forced labor, Wiley lawyers predict supply chains will shift away from China and other forced labor hot spots.
CBP has been “strongly enforcing” the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act “right out of the gate” since it took effect in June, having already targeted 1,452 entries valued at $429 million under the new law, said Robert Silvers, Homeland Security undersecretary-strategy, policy and plans, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Sept. 27.
CBP “targeted” 838 entries valued at over $266.5 million in August for suspected use of forced labor in the production of imported goods, the agency said in its monthly operational update, released Sept. 19. The agency did not specify what proportion of that were goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act as opposed to withhold release orders. Statistics on forced labor imports were not included in CBP’s July update.