Almost all global clothing brands are implicated in the use of cotton sourced from Chinese-occupied East Turkestan (Xinjiang) as well. Put On The Gas. In addition to alleging Amazons use of suppliers connected to forced labor, the TTP also found a number of accounts selling Xinjiang-sourced cotton, the sale of which has been banned by the US government last year. Share this article with your friends, and let them know which companies to avoid as well. Coca-Cola has frequently advocated against racism and discrimination in the U.S. 83 global companies and brands are directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur forced laborers in these factories. In June remarks, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincysaidhe was outraged, sad, frustrated, angry over the death of George Floyd and promised that the company stands with those seeking justice and equality., Nike has also spoken out against racism in the U.S., particularly in a May 2020 ad thaturged viewersFor once, dont do it. On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to prevent goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China from entering the U.S. market. The UFLPA Entity List can be found in the Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the Peoples Republic of Chinaand the Federal Register Notice on the Addition of Entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock said the company has confirmed that Lens Technology has not received any labor transfers of Uighur workers from Xinjiang. Dont turn your back on racism. However, a vast majority of implicated brands and companies have not taken any steps to address their ties to Uyghur forced labor. However, existing CBP guidance for WROs indicates a demanding standard for documentation and tracing. Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. 925) Adidas Amazon private labels American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. Anta Sports Products Ltd. Burberry Group PLC (Burberry) The year 2021 brought supply chain challenges to the center of the national conversation. Companies doing business in China, especially those with supply chain touchpoints in Xinjiang, should consider how the new law will affect them. 4 Vocation Skills Education Training Center (VSETC), Tanyuan Technology Co. Ltd. (including five aliases: Carbon Yuan Technology; Changzhou Carbon Yuan Technology Development; Carbon Element Technology; Jiangsu Carbon Element Technology; and Tanyuan Technology Development), Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and its subordinate and affiliated entities. The factory, Haoyuanpeng Clothing Manufacturing Co. Ltd, lists Fila, Adidas, Puma and Nike among its clients. Companies will need to comply with the law 180 days after its December 23, 2021 enactment. Nov. 17, 201801:48. In January 2021, CBP issued a region-wide ban on all XUAR-produced cotton and tomato products, irrespective of the associated company. Among the required elements of the Task Force Strategy Report are lists of entities meeting the characteristics outlined at Section 2(d)(2)(B) of the UFLPA at (i), (ii), (iv) and (v). manufacturing also using Uighur workers?https://t.co . Chinese parents who have more than a few children are often sent to detention camps or subjected to huge fines, the publication found, and police instill terror into families by raiding homes searching for hidden children. As always, our focus is on making sure everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and we will continue doing all we can to protect workers in our supply chain, Rosenstock added. Apple found no evidence of forced labor anywhere we operate, a spokesperson told The Information. In addition, CBP is subject to reporting requirements that likely will discourage easy granting of exceptions. CBP has released importer guidance to assist the trade community in preparing for the implementation of the UFLPA rebuttable presumption that goes into effect on June 21, 2022. The list of 83 companies includes over 30 technology brands "directly or indirectly benefiting" from using Uighur workers a veritable who's who of consumer electronics, such as Acer,. Check the below Frequently Asked Questions to see if your questions about UFLPA Enforcement may be answered here. Here are some of the 83 brands listed in the report as being connected to those factories using forced labor. Any dollar that goes to these brands is a dollar that goes into the factories profiting off of Uyghur forced labor. The Washington Postreported Tuesdaythat Apple supplier Lens Technology uses Uighur workers in its factories, according to documents obtained by the Tech Transparency Project. The UFLPA now would effectively apply the presumption of forced labor to all goods made in the XUAR without the need for CBP to issue WROs. An official website of the United States government. Two other companies, GoerTek and. This situation poses new risksreputational and legalfor companies and consumers purchasing goods from China, as products made in any part of the country, not just in Xinjiang, may have passed through the hands of forced labourers, the authors said. abercrombie & fitch, acer, adidas, alstom, amazon, apple, asus, b ai c motor, bmw, bombardier, bosch, byd, calvin klein, candy, carter's, cerruti 1881, changan automobile, cisco, crrc, We take allegations of human rights abuses seriously, including those related to the use or export of forced labor. "Apple has zero tolerance for forced labor," Rosenstock said. Adding to these challenges, the efforts to comply with or plan for the UFLPA may cause a number of companies to consider their policies for supply chain ethics and due diligenceissues that may tie into broader environment, social and governance (ESG) efforts. (Photo by Anna Fifield/The Washington Post via Getty Images). Meet The Company Bridging Synthetic Biology Innovation With The World Of Insurance To Ensure Safe Food Production, Theres A New Species Of Magic Mushroom - Named After Paul Stamets, Absci Takes Its Generative AI Antibody Design Platform To Europe, Meet The Startup Thats Putting Ice Factories In Shipping Containers For Winn-Dixie Supermarkets. They include. / Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. The report did not document factories using Uyghur labor. The Biden administration has been vocal about human rights in China and other jurisdictions, and efforts to enforce supply chain ethics appear to have bipartisan support. All Rights Reserved, By submitting your email, you agree to our. Companies in the labor transfer program are often in labor-intensive industries, so they asked: is the growing and labor-intensive P.P.E. It is a deep concern that I have learned Nike is a recipient of Chinese products manufactured using enslaved labor by forced transfer of Uyghur workers from East Turkestan (Xinjiang) to labor camps in different parts of the country. All importers are expected to review their supply chains thoroughly and institute reliable measures to ensure imported goods are not produced wholly or in part with convict labor, forced labor, and/or indentured labor (including forced or indentured child labor). The Task Force Strategy Report will identify a list of high-priority sectors for enforcement, which at a minimum must include cotton, tomatoes and polysilicon. Apple . Click Share This Page button to display social media links. In anticipation of the rebuttable presumption becoming effective on June 21, 2022, an implementation strategy and guidance for the trade community will be issued to ensure compliance with the Act. In March 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) published a report titled Uyghurs For Sale, which revealed a vast network of companies complicit in the use of Uyghur forced labor throughout China. Several Apple suppliers may have used forced labor in China, according to The Information. Check the below Frequently Asked Questions to see if your questions about UFLPA Strategymay be answered here. This enhanced enforcement already is underway. Thus far, the U.S. government has deployed Withhold Release Orders (WROs), export control restrictions pursuant to the Entity List, and sanctions designations under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which have targeted several large Chinese companies including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), as well as categories of products. We invited Apple, Esprit, and Fila to respond; they did not. Those factories claim to be part of the supply chain of 83 well-known global brands., The Fair Labor Association has also written a statement calling to an end of all forced labor in East Turkestan: The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is deeply troubled by credible reports of forced labor and other violations of fundamental human rights in the Xinjiang region of China. This report must include both the goods and the evidence considered. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. DHS issued a Notice Seeking Public Comments in the Federal Register on January 24, 2022 on methods to prevent the importation of goods produced using forced labor from the People's Republic of China, specifically from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Keep in mind also this is part of the problem with China, it is hard for other countries or supply chains to compete with no labor costs. According to the researchers, Uighurs, a persecuted ethnic minority from Chinas western Xinjiang region, have been funneled to work in factories in other provinces under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour.. The tech industry at large relies on suppliers in China, and The Information reports that these companies have also worked with Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, among others. This action targets these entities ability to access commodities, software, and technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and is part of a U.S. Government-wide effort to take strong action against Chinas ongoing campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the XUAR. WROs on materials like cotton (where an estimated 20 percent of world supply and 85 percent of Chinese supply is from the XUAR) and polysilicon (a key material in solar panels and the photovoltaic supply chain) reportedly are causing CBP to block broad categories of certain products incorporating those materials. All Rights Reserved, By submitting your email, you agree to our. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Our government should tax these company at above the money they are saving by using known slave labor. The Tech Transparency Projectsaid a glass supplier was using forced labor in December; Apple said it had seen no evidence of forced labor. Withhold Release Orders and Findings List, Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, Best Practices for Applicability Reviews: Importer Responsibilities, Guidance on Executive Summaries and Sample Tables of Contents, https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Official websites use .gov Earlier this year, Tesla faced criticism for opening a showroom in the Xinjiang region and was also mentioned as an alleged customer of the aforementioned Lens Technology company in the TTP report from December 2020. BuzzFeed News reported finding more than 100 detention facilities located beside factories. Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, and other corporationsfought to weakenthe bills language, theNew York Timesreported in late November, arguing that the bill would harm the supply chains they rely on in China. Under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which comes into effect on June 21, President Joe Biden's administration assumes anything made even partially in Xinjiang is produced with forced . The UFLPA will replace the existing case-by-case implementation of WROs on companies operating in and product categories from the XUAR with a broad U.S. import ban and rebuttable presumption of the involvement of forced or otherwise prohibited labor. They are grouped into different categories and listed below. Here, they are paid at most 15 cents a day to pick cotton. Many Chinese have called for boycotts,. U.S. remote-control maker Universal Electronics Inc told Reuters it struck a deal with authorities in Xinjiang to transport hundreds of Uyghur workers to its plant in the southern Chinese city of . . Working with two human rights groups, the publication identified seven companies that supplied products or services to Apple and supported forced labor programs, according to statements made by the Chinese government. Address: One Bowerman Drive Beaverton, OR 97005. From Company-Specific WROs to a Broader Import Ban in the XUAR Coca-Cola and Nike both pushed back on the NYT report in statements to the Daily Caller, arguing that they did not lobby against the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act or source products from Xinjiang. Lenovo also pointed to a 2018 audit by the Reliable Business Alliance in which OFILM scored very well. These parties can include companies outside of the XUAR. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Fact Sheet, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Importer Overview, H.R. Any dollar that goes to these brands is a dollar that goes into the factories profiting off of Uyghur forced labor. Take action against global brands and companies complicit in forced labor by not buying their products. The Act requires CBP to apply the rebuttable presumption unless the importer can overcome the presumption of forced labor by establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the good, ware, article, or merchandise was not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor. We will continue doing all we can to protect workers and ensure they are treated with dignity and respect, the spokesperson said. TheAP investigation, based on interviews with 30 former detainees, family members, a former detention camp instructor, government statistics and state documents, found that the Chinese government seeks to dramatically lower the birthrates of Uighurs and other minorities while encouraging other populations to produce more children. DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. 6901 note, established a rebuttable presumption that any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the Peoples Republic of China or produced by an entity on a list required by clause (i), (ii), (iv) or (v) of section 2(d)(2)(B) are prohibited under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.