On July 26, 2023, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force ("FLETF"), chaired by the Department of Homeland Security, issued updates to its Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China (the "Strategy")1 related to enforcement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act ("UFLPA"). Separately, this summer and early fall the FLETF added seven entities and nine subsidiaries of those entities to the UFLPA Entity List.
Background
The UFLPA creates a rebuttable presumption that any goods, wares, articles, or merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, or produced by an entity on the UFLPA Entity List, are prohibited from entering the United States pursuant to Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930. An importer may overcome the presumption by providing clear and convincing evidence that the goods were not produced with forced labor. The UFLPA required the FLETF to develop the Strategy "to support enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to prevent the importation into the United States of goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor" in China.
As described in our previous article, Forced Labor and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the FLETF initially released the Strategy on June 17, 2022.2 The UFLPA requires the FLETF to provide annual updates to the Strategy related to the UFLPA Entity List, the list of products associated with certain listed entities, plans for enforcement and for identifying additional entities, and "high priority sectors."
UFLPA Strategy Update
The recently published Strategy update was rather limited in scope but serves as a reminder of the required ongoing updates to the Strategy and enforcement of the UFLPA.
The updated Strategy references the FLETF's continued collaboration with non-governmental organizations and the private sector in its identification of several categories of products called "potential risk areas." These potential risk areas are not "high priority sectors" requiring an enforcement plan under the UFLPA but should be closely monitored and may become high priority sectors in the future. The newly identified potential risk areas contain items of significant interest for U.S. importers, including "red dates and other agricultural products, vinyl products and downstream products, aluminum and downstream products, steel and downstream products, lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, copper and downstream products, electronics, and tires and other automobile components."
The updated Strategy also includes entities added to the UFLPA Entity List in June 2023, discussed in detail below.
Additions to the UFLPA Entity List
The UFLPA Entity List is comprised of four separate lists with sometimes overlapping entries:
- A list of entities in Xinjiang that mine, produce, or manufacture wholly or in part any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise with forced labor;
- A list of entities working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang;
- A list of entities that exported products made by entities in lists 1 and 2 from the PRC into the United States; and
- A list of facilities and entities, including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, that source material from Xinjiang or from persons working with the government of Xinjiang or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for purposes of the ''poverty alleviation'' program or the ''pairing- assistance'' program or any other government-labor scheme that uses forced labor.
Upon publication of the initial Strategy in June 2022, the FLETF identified 20 entities on the UFLPA Entity List.
On June 12, 2023, the FLETF added two entities, including eight subsidiaries of one of the entities, to the UFLPA Entity List for working with the Xinjiang government to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor or persecuted groups out of Xinjiang.3 The entities added to the UFLPA Entity List in June 2023 are as follows:
- Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co. Ltd.; and
- Ninestar Corporation and its eight Zhuhai-based subsidiaries, which include Zhuhai Ninestar Information Technology Co. Ltd., Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co. Ltd., Zhuhai Apex Microelectronics Co., Ltd., Geehy Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Pu- Tech Industrial Co., Ltd., Zhuhai G&G Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Seine Printing Technology Co., Ltd., and Zhuhai Ninestar Management Co., Ltd.
Effective August 2, 2023, the FLETF identified two additional entities and a subsidiary for addition to the UFLPA Entity List.4 The entities are:
- Camel Group Co., Ltd.; and
- Chenguang Biotech Group Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary Chenguang Biotechnology Group Yanqi Co. Ltd.
Similar to the June 2023 additions, Camel Group Co., Ltd. was added to the UFLPA Entity List for working with the Xinjiang government to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor or persecuted groups out of Xinjiang. Chenguang Biotech Group Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary were added to the UFLPA Entity List for sourcing material from Xinjiang or from persons working with the government of Xinjiang or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for purposes of any government-labor scheme that uses forced labor.
Most recently, on September 27, 2023, FLETF added three more entities to the UFLPA Entity List for working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang.5 The three additional entities are:
- Xinjiang Tianmian Foundation Textile Co., Ltd.,
- Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Textile Co. Ltd., and
- Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co. Ltd.
The initial Strategy provided that the FLETF "intends to update the UFLPA Entity List multiple times a year," so importers should continue to monitor the UFLPA Entity List website and the Federal Register for updates.
***
The UFLPA remains unique for its specificity in forced labor prevention, in part due to the requirement of the Strategy and its annual update. However, it is important for importers to remember that Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the importation of goods derived from any country "by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor." Therefore, U.S. importers must conduct sufficient due diligence to ensure the use of forced labor makes up no part of their global supply chain.
Footnotes
1. 2023 Updates to the Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China, Dept. of Homeland Security, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (July 26, 2023), available at https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-08/23_0728_plcy_uflpa-strategy-2023-update-508.pdf.
2. Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China, Dept. of Homeland Security, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (June 17, 2022), available at https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/22_0617_fletf_uflpa-strategy.pdf.
3. Notice Regarding the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, Dept. of Homeland Security, 88 Fed. Reg. 38,080 (June 12, 2023), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-06-12/pdf/2023-12481.pdf.
4. Notice Regarding the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, Dept. of Homeland Security, 88 Fed. Reg. 50,902 (Aug. 2, 2023), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-08-02/pdf/2023-16361.pdf.
5. Notice Regarding the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, Dept. of Homeland Security, 88 Fed. Reg. 66,496 (Sep. 27, 2023), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-09-27/pdf/2023-21131.pdf .
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
