U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issues Detention Orders against Companies Suspected of Using Forced Labor
US blocks import of goods suspected to have been produced with forced labor, and Anti-Trafficking Review analyses public perceptions of human trafficking.
Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued five Withhold Release Orders (WROs) covering five different products, imported from five different countries. This action was based on information obtained and reviewed by CBP that indicates that the products are produced, in whole or in part, using forced labor.
Under U.S. law, it is illegal to import goods into the U.S that are made wholly or in part by forced labor, which includes convict labor, indentured labor, and forced or indentured child labor. When sufficient information is available, CBP may detain goods believed to have been produced with forced labor by issuing a WRO. The action to detain products suspected of being produced using forced labor from entering the United States follows efforts to target foreign worker abuses abroad.
The order can be imposed on the evidence of news reports or allegations made directly to it by the public or trade community. CBP may also self-initiate an investigation into the use of forced labor in any given supply chain.
The products included garments from Hetian Taida Apparel Co., Ltd. in Xinjiang, China; disposable rubber gloves from WRP Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd.'s Malaysia location; gold from artisanal small mines (ASM) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DCR); rough diamonds from the Marange Diamond Fields in Zimbabwe; and bone black, which is a black pigment created from animal bones, from Bonechar Carvão Ativado Do Brasil Ltda in Brazil.
Zimbabwe’s government in a statement dismissed the U.S. decision. Marange, in eastern Zimbabwe, is the biggest diamond operation in the country, with only the state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Co mining in the area.
There previously has been international media concerning garment producer Hetian Taida Apparel, as well as WRP Asia.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy updates and news:
A New York Times report summarises an investigation into a boom in online photos and videos of children being sexually abused, and how tech companies fail to adequately police sexual abuse imagery on their platforms. In an interview, the reporters explain their process of channeling horrible information into a constructive, investigative story and why they limited their use of the term ‘child pornography’. An opinion piece discusses whether a combination of digital technology and the business models of some tech platforms pose existential threats to the rule of law.
The most recent issue of the Anti-Trafficking Review discusses the disagreements among anti-trafficking practitioners and scholars about the current state of public awareness and perceptions of human trafficking. The articles converge around one central message: overall, public perceptions of human trafficking remain incomplete and, often, misleading regarding the nature of trafficking, its root causes and, consequently, its prevention.
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