Washington, D.C. (June 7, 2022) - Signed into law December 23, 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) is set to go into effect June 21, 2022, without the benefit of implementation guidance that importers sought before covered shipments to the U.S. began their journeys. The new law establishes a rebuttable presumption – which can only be satisfied by the undefined term "clear and convincing evidence" – that any imports mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China were produced using forced labor and will be blocked from entry into the U.S. And, despite the lack of advance guidance, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have said there will be no grace period or policy of enforcement discretion; instead, the law will be fully enforced as of June 21, 2022. Importers must prepare as well as possible to protect their shipments under the pressure of this looming deadline.

In a June 1 webinar, a recording of which has not been made available, CBP officials said some form of guidance will be published the week of June 6, but the full implementation strategy and guidance will not be released until the June 21 effective date of the new law. In the meantime, businesses are largely on their own in seeking to meet what CBP officials noted is the high evidentiary burden importers will face in trying to rebut the Act's presumption of forced labor. Saying that determinations would be made on a case-by-case basis, CBP speakers suggested that helpful documentation includes copies of audit reports, visas and work permits retained by employers or recruiters, or other official documentation, such as government issued passports. However, reports abound in the national press on the difficulties of conducting such audits and diligence in remote, precarious areas of China like the XUAR.

Compounding the challenges of this new law further is its breadth: the ban on items produced "wholly or in part" in the XUAR means that even shipments from other parts of China that could conceivably have components sourced in the XUAR are at risk. In addition, as the CBP speakers made clear, the Act includes no de minimis exemptions, so no matter how small an amount may be alleged to have been produced with forced labor, the shipment could be seized. At a minimum, the CBP's plan to enforce the new law strictly as of June 21 suggests that import delays are likely and importers must be prepared to act quickly if a shipment is detained, since the prescribed appeal period is only 30 days.

The CBP will hold two more webinars, which will cover the same information as the June 1 webinar but will be recorded and available on the CBP website.

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