Today the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”) published an update to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) Entity List.
The UFLPA originally went into effect June 21, 2022, and established a rebuttable presumption that all merchandise coming from the Xinjiang region of China (“XUAR”) is a product of forced labor. The UFLPA captures all upstream and downstream merchandise coming from the XUAR and does not include a de minimis provision. The addition of the three companies to the UFLPA Entity List this month marks the fourth time the list has been updated since its inception in 2022.
The FLETF expanded the UFLPA Entity List by adding three companies, Xinjiang Tianmian Foundation Textile Co., Ltd., Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Textile Co. Ltd., and Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co. Ltd., to Section 2 (d)(2)(B)(ii) of the UFLPA, which covers “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.” Xinjiang Tianmian Foundation Textile Co., Ltd. is a producer of yarn and textiles, Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Textile Co. Ltd. is a garment and textile seller, and Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co. Ltd. is a producer of chemicals, chemical products, textiles, and building materials.
Initially, the FLETF identified three high priority sectors for UFLPA enforcement: cotton, tomatoes, and polysilicon. Expansions of the UFLPA Entity List indicate that the FLETF is looking beyond the scope of the three high priority sectors, as recent additions to the Entity List cover new sectors such as plant extracts and chemicals. Importers are well advised to map their supply chains to point of origin for the products they ultimately import into the United States to ensure that their supply chains are in compliance with the UFLPA.
While the sectors of enforcement continue to expand, the number of shipments detained under the UFLPA also continues to increase. According to the UFLPA Statistics Dashboard, during the 2023 fiscal year, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) detained 3,817 shipments under the UFLPA worth approximately $1.34B. Detention peaked in June of this year, when 389 shipments worth $241.6M were detained in a single month. Since the UFLPA went into effect in 2022, CBP has detained 5,346 shipments under the UFLPA, valued at $1.81B. Based on the information above, it is clear that enforcement of the UFLPA continues to expand, as the number of shipments and the value of such shipments continues to increase.
Please contact CLK’s customs and supply chain compliance team if you have questions or require assistance.