Meldon Reservoir To High Willhays, Articles L

The rebuttable presumption goes into effect on June 21, 2022. Between January 22, 2022, and June 21, 2022, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force established under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of National Intelligence, will undertake a process that will result in a strategy for supporting enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. Looking for the presence of forced labor is part of every supplier assessment we conduct, including surprise audits, spokesman Josh Rosenstock told Apple. Among the required elements of the Task Force Strategy Report are lists of entities meeting the characteristics outlined at Section 2(d)(2)(B) of the UFLPA at (i), (ii), (iv) and (v). However, a vast majority of implicated brands and companies have not taken any steps to address their ties to Uyghur forced labor. Democrats and Republicans did something remarkable this week: They agreed on something. An official website of the United States government. The TTP pinpoints five companies on Amazons supplier list (available as a CSV file in the small print below the pages supply chain map) that have been publicly denounced for being directly or indirectly connected to the forced labor of Chinas Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region. A 2014 draft contract for Xinjiang laborers in Guangdong province obtained by the AP shows the government there offered companies 3000 RMB ($428.52) per worker, with an additional 1000 RMB ($142.84) for "training" each . In addition to alleging Amazons use of suppliers connected to forced labor, the TTP also found a number of accounts selling Xinjiang-sourced cotton, the sale of which has been banned by the US government last year. Please be aware that this is CBPs importer guidance, which provides transparency to CBPs operational approach, and not the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Forces Strategy, which will provide additional importer guidance, required by the UFLPA. The Act requires CBP to apply the rebuttable presumption unless the importer can overcome the presumption of forced labor by establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the good, ware, article, or merchandise was not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor. All the companies that responded said they required suppliers to follow strict labor . ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The UK government must toughen measures to tackle modern slavery, including more penalties to compel businesses to ensure Uighur forced labour is not used in their supply chains, according to a . A lock ( The problem is not Apples alone. The UFLPA also requires the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security, and in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and Director of National Intelligence, to develop and submit to Congress a strategy for supporting CBPs enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to goods, wares, articles, and merchandise produced with forced labor in the Peoples Republic of China. Senior China researcher explains why viewers should "stay away" from the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021. Questions regarding UFLPA may be submitted to [email protected]. The Biden administration has been vocal about human rights in China and other jurisdictions, and efforts to enforce supply chain ethics appear to have bipartisan support. Several major companies have reportedly fought efforts to end the practice of forced labor specifically the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed the House by a vote of 403-6 in September. Lenovo also pointed to a 2018 audit by the Reliable Business Alliance in which OFILM scored very well. All importers are expected to review their supply chains thoroughly and institute reliable measures to ensure imported goods are not produced wholly or in part with convict labor, forced labor, and/or indentured labor (including forced or indentured child labor). The Washington Postreported Tuesdaythat Apple supplier Lens Technology uses Uighur workers in its factories, according to documents obtained by the Tech Transparency Project. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Looking ahead, this focus on supply chain ethics appears to reflect a trend and not a blip. While some industries may have experience with conflict minerals, blood diamonds or child labor, not all compliance and ethics programs are designed to look at supply chain risks. The report accuses Amazon of continuing to work with these suppliers, despite evidence of their association with Uyghur labor camps. Brands Can't Confidently Say No. manufacturing also using Uighur workers?https://t.co . These parties can include companies outside of the XUAR. Share this article with your friends, and let them know which companies to avoid as well. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. CBP guidance for XUAR WROs, and standards like the ILO Indicators of Forced Labor can provide reference points. An official website of the United States government. Thus far, the U.S. government has deployed Withhold Release Orders (WROs), export control restrictions pursuant to the Entity List, and sanctions designations under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which have targeted several large Chinese companies including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), as well as categories of products. From Company-Specific WROs to a Broader Import Ban in the XUAR Almost all global clothing brands are implicated in the use of cotton sourced from Chinese-occupied East Turkestan (Xinjiang) as well. The UFLPA mandates a review and strategy-development process expected to result in the identification of additional parties whose products will be presumed to derive from forced labor and banned from import. -- the side where the Uighur workers enter and exit, and live in dorms -- looks almost like a prison. We take allegations of human rights abuses seriously, including those related to the use or export of forced labor. Companies Prepare for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Stephan Becker, Benjamin Cote, Aaron Hutman, Moushami Joshi, Toochi Ngwangwa Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP + Follow. The TTP found that three Amazon suppliers Luxshare Precision Industry, AcBel Polytech, and Lens Technology have reportedly used forced labor themselves. The coalition has published an extensive list of brands it claims continue to source from the region, or from factories connected to the forced labour of Uighur people, including Gap, C&A,. U.S. remote-control maker Universal Electronics Inc told Reuters it struck a deal with authorities in Xinjiang to transport hundreds of Uyghur workers to its plant in the southern Chinese city of . Following near unanimous passage by Congress, President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which seeks to untangle American supply chains from the forced labor of Uyghurs and other persecuted ethnoreligious minorities in China. Those factories claim to be part of the supply chain of 83 well-known global brands., The Fair Labor Association has also written a statement calling to an end of all forced labor in East Turkestan: The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is deeply troubled by credible reports of forced labor and other violations of fundamental human rights in the Xinjiang region of China. , which revealed a vast network of companies complicit in the use of Uyghur forced labor throughout China. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The law places the burden of proof on companies to demonstrate that any imports mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regionor involving entities exporting labor from Xinjiangwere not made using forced labor. Those factories claim to be part of the supply chain of 83 well-known global brands., The Fair Labor Association has also written a statement calling to an end of all forced labor in East Turkestan: , The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is deeply troubled by credible reports of forced labor and other violations of fundamental human rights in the Xinjiang region of China. Many consumers are now boycotting Primark, but the brand is still expanding. Even more to the point, how about forced labor right here in the U.S. with our prisons (especially the privatized ones), with our vagrancy laws, our with our use of cheap underpaid and unpaid foreign labor from the very groups that conservatives want to deport unless, of course, these conservatives can make more unbegotten money from their forced labor? We hope that by sharing this film we can serve as a catalyst to inspire action against a deep issue in our society and encourage people to help shape a better future.. Dont turn your back on racism. I was born in a re-education camp at the height of China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There are watchtowers with cameras pointed in all directions and high barbed wire fences atop the walls. I understand that in some of these poor countries it may not be clear who may be violating human rights in some way but there should be minimum due diligence standards. The Commerce Department will continue to take firm, decisive action tohold China and other perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable.. An April 2021 report co-authored by Human Rights Watch and Stanford Law School details "crimes against humanity," including mass detention, forced labor, torture, and cultural and religious erasure. WASHINGTON Nike and Coca-Cola are among the major companies and business groups lobbying Congress to weaken a bill that would ban imported goods made with forced labor in China's Xinjiang. An official website of the United States government. Amazons suppliers are responsible for making Amazon-branded products, such as the Echo, Fire TV, Kindle, the wide range of affordable products sold as part of its Amazon Basics line, and more. CBP issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) against cotton products and tomato products produced in Xinjiang based on information that reasonably indicates the use of detainee or prison . The Act, codified under 22 U.S.C. A number of previous reports have implicated these companies in the past for example, Luxshare and Lens Technology were both linked to forced labor in bombshell reports from The Information and The Washington Post, although those reports pertained to Apples questionable history of suppliers. Major international clothing brands like L.L. WROs on materials like cotton (where an estimated 20 percent of world supply and 85 percent of Chinese supply is from the XUAR) and polysilicon (a key material in solar panels and the photovoltaic supply chain) reportedly are causing CBP to block broad categories of certain products incorporating those materials. One such ad, claiming to be able to supply 1,000 Uighur workers aged 16 to 18 years, read: The advantages of Xinjiang workers are: semi-military style management, can withstand hardship, no loss of personnel Minimum order 100 workers!. Thus, investment in supply chain due diligence, compliance and contractual requirements for commercial partners may emerge as a key development in 2022. Following a public comment period, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force will describe how companies can adequately demonstrate that their imports originating from China are not made with forced labor. He said Apple earlier this year ensured that none of its other suppliers are using Uighur labor transferred from Xinjiang. The UFLPA will replace the existing case-by-case implementation of WROs on companies operating in and product categories from the XUAR with a broad U.S. import ban and rebuttable presumption of the involvement of forced or otherwise prohibited labor. They added: The tainted global supply chain that results from these practices means that it is now difficult to guarantee that products manufactured in China are free from forced labour., This is a BETA experience. This report estimates that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, and some of them were sent directly from detention camps, a summary of the report said. 6256 - Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, DHS Press Release on UFLPA Public Comment Period, Federal Register Notice Seeking Public Comment. Workers can be jailed for refusing to join the work programs, the report says, and those enrolled in the programs are often moved far from their homes. We invited Apple, Esprit, and Fila to respond; they did not. The report listed popular clothing companies Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Gap, Calvin Klein, H&M, L.L.Bean, Lacoste, Nike, The North Face, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Skechers, Tommy Hilfiger, Zara, and Victorias Secret, as well as General Motors, Goertek, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagon, and more. Further complicating the matter are Chinas poverty alleviation and pairing assistance programs, some of which forcibly relocate Uyghur and other minorities as laborers outside of Xinjiang. Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to prevent goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China from entering the U.S. market. The tech industry at large relies on suppliers in China, and The Information reports that these companies have also worked with Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, among others. The companies that broker this Uighur labor advertise that the workers are used to working in adversity, that they will stay the length of the contract. CBP's UFLPA importer guidance is available at CBP.gov. Call To House Republicans On Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Middleman Investigation. The Task Force Strategy Report will identify a list of high-priority sectors for enforcement, which at a minimum must include cotton, tomatoes and polysilicon. These legal developments also dovetail with broader ESG and corporate responsibility trends. For some products and industries, it may be easier to track sources and seek certifications of product origin. Apple, whichhas saidthat it is is committed to donating to organizations that challenge racial injustice and mass incarceration, has protested that it rigorously audits companies in its supply chain to make sure that Apples products arent derived from forced labor, saying in a statement to WaPo that Apple has zero tolerance for forced labor..