The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) has announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Policy, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of State will be holding a three-part webinar series later this month regarding enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) with respect to seafood imported into the United States.
The series, titled UFLPA 101 for the Seafood Sector, will be held over three days from Tuesday, November 12th through Thursday, November 14th. The first two webinars in the series will be an hour in length, while the third and concluding seminar will take ninety minutes.
Descriptions for each of the three sessions are as follows:
Day 1
November 12, 1:00pm ET: “The UFLPA and the UFLPA Entity List”: In this one-hour webinar, DHS’s Office of Policy will present an overview of the UFLPA and the role of the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force in implementing the UFLPA Strategy to Prohibit Importation of Goods made with Forced Labor in the People’s Republic of China. The presentation will also review the Strategy’s high-priority sectors for enforcement, as well as administration of the UFLPA Entity List.
Day 2
November 13, 1:00pm ET: “CBP’s Enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act”: In this one-hour webinar, CBP will present a forced labor overview, covering topics including the prevalence of forced labor around the world, the forced labor and UFLPA-specific enforcement processes, modifications to Withhold Release Orders (WROs) and Findings, and general forced labor compliance recommendations for importers. The presentation will also discuss CBP’s role in addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, along with forced labor abuses in the seafood supply chain.
Day 3
November 14, 1:00pm ET: “Shoring Up Seafood Supply Chains through Due Diligence”: In this 90 minute webinar, presenters from the Departments of Labor and State and subject matter experts will provide comprehensive information on U.S. government concerns about labor abuses and forced labor in the seafood supply chain; available due diligence, risk-management resources, and tools; and clear actionable steps that the private sector can take to prevent and address labor exploitation and forced labor in global supply chains.
There is no cost to participate in the webinars. However, registration is required and can be completed at this link: https://cbptradeevents.certain.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x18697abcd
In January of this year, the Southern Shrimp Alliance petitioned the FLETF to add eight Chinese seafood processing conglomerates operating in Shandong province to the UFLPA’s Entity List and to identify seafood as a high-priority sector for enforcement.
In June, the FLETF announced the addition of Shandong Meijia Group Co., Ltd. (also known as Rizhao Meijia Group), a Chinese seafood processing plant operating in Shandong province, to the UFLPA’s Entity List. Members of the Shandong Meijia Group shipped shrimp to the United States prior to the Group’s inclusion on the Entity List. By adding the Shandong Meijia Group to the Entity List, any seafood, including shrimp, exported by any company within the Group is prohibited from entering the United States unless an importer can establish, through clear and convincing evidence, that these goods were not produced through forced labor.
In July, the FLETF announced that it was designating seafood as a high-priority sector for enforcement under the UFLPA.
The FLETF’s three-part webinar series provides a valuable opportunity for industry members interested in understanding the UFLPA and how it is enforced to hear directly from federal agency officials.
Register for the UFLPA webinar here: https://cbptradeevents.certain.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x18697abcd
Review the FLETF’s July 2024 update to the Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People’s Republic of China: https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa-strategy
Read the Southern Shrimp Alliance’s January 29, 2024 letter to the FLETF here: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SSA-Petition-UFLPA-Entity-List-cc-Jan-29-2024.pdf
Learn more about the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act here: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA