On August 4, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
("CBP") released a Withhold Release Order
("WRO") on tuna and other seafood harvested by the
Hangton No. 112, a Fijian flagged and owned longliner fishing
vessel. According to CBP, information discovered during its
investigation reasonably indicated that such seafood was harvested
with forced labor. As a result of this WRO, all tuna and other
seafood sourced from the Hangton No. 112 fishing vessel will be
blocked from entry into the U.S. and detained at U.S. ports of
entry. In their press release, CBP states that they found at
least three of the International Labour Organization's 11 indicators of forced labor during its
investigation: withholding of wages, debt bondage, and retention of
identity documents.
This action follows an earlier WRO issued in May 2021 –
which, as reported in our earlier Client Alert, was the first WRO of the Biden
administration – on seafood sourced from Dalian Ocean Fishing
Co., Ltd, a Chinese company that operates a fleet of fishing
vessels. There are currently three other active WROs, all issued in
2020, which block the import of seafood sourced from specific
fishing vessels: Yu Long No. 2 (May 11, 2020), Da Wang (August 18,
2020), and Lien Yi Hsing No. 12 (December 31, 2020).
Forced labor in the seafood industry has been an area of increased CBP focus. As CBP describes in its press release, "[t]he distant water fishing industry is at high risk of forced labor as foreign companies often coerce vulnerable migrant workers to perform hazardous labor for little or no pay aboard fishing vessels that may spend months at sea without making port calls." CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller stated, "CBP will continue to stand up against these vessels' abusive labor practices by preventing the introduction of their unethically-harvested seafood into the U.S. market."
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