United States publishes updated Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act enforcement strategy
Highlights of the updated UFLPA strategy
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a release announcing that the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force has published an updated Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) enforcement strategy (July 9, 2024).
According to the USTR release (July 12, 2024), the updated UFLPA strategy highlights:
- Enforcement of the UFLPA’s rebuttable presumption, which prohibits goods from being imported into the United States that are either produced in Xinjiang, or by entities identified on the UFLPA entity list, unless the importer can prove that the goods were not produced with forced labor
- An expanded UFLPA entity list, from the initial 20 entities named in the 2022 strategy to 68 entities as of the date of these updates
- New high-priority sectors for enforcement—polyvinyl chloride, aluminum and seafood—to inform the trade community of supply chains that involve a higher risk of forced labor from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Background
The UFLPA enforcement strategy was launched in June 2022.
The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, chaired by Department of Homeland Security, leads efforts to monitor the enforcement of the prohibition on importing goods made wholly or in part with forced labor into the United States. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force is comprised of seven member agencies, including the Office of the USTR, and the Departments of Labor, State, Treasury, Justice, and Commerce.