Powering Performance

From both a human rights and global commerce perspective, forced labor is a serious and pervasive issue, impacting millions of people and compromising global supply chains. Defined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its non-performance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily,” forced labor is insidious, impacting the manufacturing and production of a vast range of goods — spanning everything from electronics, apparel and industrial materials to pharmaceuticals, base metals and agricultural products.

On February 17, 2023, the Ministry of Economy published in the Federal Official Gazette (DOF) an administrative regulation prohibiting imports of goods produced with forced labor. The regulation will become effective on May 18, 2023.

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Tuesday imposed new trade restrictions on five Chinese companies for allegedly aiding in the repression of the Uyghur Muslim minority but China rejected the accusation as "lies" aimed at constraining it.

After several stalled efforts in recent years (see previous Bennett Jones blog posts on Bill C-423 and Bill S-216), Parliament is poised to pass a supply chain transparency law aimed at preventing and reducing the risk of forced labour and child labour in supply chains. Private members Bill S-211, An Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff is expected to pass third reading in the House of Commons shortly and will have immediate implications for Canadian business and importers.

The Forced Labor Technical Expo welcomes industry event attendance as well as stakeholders (max two per company) impacted by the need to comply with UFLPA and §19 U.S.C. 1307. The audience includes the U.S. importing community, partner government agencies with a nexus to forced labor enforcement, and non-governmental organizations.

The grave human rights conditions in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Uyghur Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities are subjected to internment and forced labor, among other abuses, demand international response. So far, the centerpiece of the U.S. response has been the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2021. The law is intended to prevent U.S. consumers from being complicit in these abuses through the purchase of Chinese goods made with forced labor. In doing so, it encourages global firms to take Xinjiang out of their supply chains in order to maintain access to U.S. markets.

What parts of your car were made by Uyghur forced laborers?

If you have bought a car in the last five years, some of its parts were likely made by Uyghurs and others forced to work in China. The Chinese government has deliberately shifted raw materials mining and processing and auto parts manufacturing into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR or Uyghur Region), essentially making international supply chains captive to repressive programs and systematic forced labor. 

The German government’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, which addresses human rights in the supply chain, went into force on January 1, 2023.