- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Adrianne Appel2023-05-30T19:28:00
Customs agents have flagged thousands of products marked as made in Malaysia, Vietnam, or elsewhere because of suspicions supply chains were linked to the Xinjiang region of China, according to an official from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Eric Choy, executive director for trade remedy law enforcement at the CBP’s Office of Trade, spoke as part of a panel discussion on human trafficking and forced labor at Compliance Week’s 2023 National Conference in Washington, D.C. His remarks largely focused on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which took effect in June 2022.
Gwen Hassan, founder and host of the “Hidden Traffic” podcast and a risk and compliance practitioner, moderated the session, which also featured Nate Lankford, practice lead, business and human rights at law firm Miller & Chevalier.
Under the UFLPA, companies must prove through documentation none of their products or components, or the raw materials that made them, have a link back to the Xinjiang region.
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The Department of Homeland Security designated three companies to a growing list accused by the Biden administration of forced labor practices in the Xinjiang region of China.
Amazon, IKEA, and Volkswagen were among the companies targeted in the first round of complaints under the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act—an early indication nongovernmental organizations will seek to hold big businesses accountable for alleged human rights violations.
President Joe Biden’s recent executive order to restrict certain outbound investments to China offers an opportunity for companies to help shape the program by offering input through comment.
It’s been nearly two years since the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act took effect, and as enforcement statistics and recent reports demonstrate, many businesses are still not adequately vetting their supply chains.
Rooting out potential child or forced labor violations in your company’s supply chain can have benefits beyond protecting reputation and being ethically sound. The process can also help your firm comply with pending child labor laws in other jurisdictions.
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