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.
Just three weeks before the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act will go into effect, many important questions remain unanswered, said Richard Mojica, a former CBP headquarters attorney now with Miller & Chevalier.
The CBP Office of Trade Relations plans to host webinars on three dates in June to give an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the agency said on its UFLPA site. The webinars are scheduled for June 1, 10-11 a.m. EDT; June 7, 1-2 p.m. EDT; and June 16, 2-3 p.m. EDT.
The four leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a Democrat and a Republican from each chamber, are asking appropriators to fully fund the CBP request of $70.3 million to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, for more employees, technology and training.
CBP recently posted an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and forced labor withhold release order enforcement mechanisms. The table provides citations of the legal basis behind detention, appeal, evidentiary level and authorization under the UFLPA and WRO processes.
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.
Applied DNA Sciences recently received a first request for traceable tagged cotton "that is directly attributable to the recent passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," the company said in an earnings news release. The company's CertainT platform is described as allowing for raw materials and products to be traced through unique molecular identifiers. "Our team has presented to many members of Congress, Federal agencies, and Committees regarding the utility of our platform in enforcing the Act," the company said. "Though not expected to be material to revenue in the current fiscal year, the shipment anticipates a global brand’s multi-year commitment to our CertainT platform through a scaled deployment across its many supply chains. We believe that the passage of the Act is a trigger point for the wider adoption of our CertainT platform that holds the potential for molecular taggant sales for textile fiber applications to become a second material revenue stream," it said. "With less than 45 days before the Act goes into force, we believe interest in CertainT by brands and their supply chains has never been higher.”
CBP is ready for the June start date of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, John Leonard, deputy executive assistant commissioner of the CBP Office of Trade told a textile conference audience. However, Leonard acknowledged that CBP won't have identified factories outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that employ Uyghurs or members of other persecuted groups by the start of enforcement. Those goods are also supposed to be blocked under the UFLPA.