Suspected goods made from Chinese forced labor seized by CBP.

Image of seized gloves; source: CBP.gov

CBP seized 32 cartons of women’s leather gloves suspected of being manufactured by forced labor. CBP believes the shipment may have been made from forced labor because the shipment originated from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. As you may or may not know, the Xinjiang region is where the CBP media release reports the Chinese is committing human rights abuses against the Uyghur people and other ethnic and religious minorities.

The shipment was detained under a “Withhold Release Order” (WRO) against Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Company Limited and Baoding LYSZD Trade And Business Company Limited. A WRO is typically issued against a manufacturer after CBP conducts an investigation. The investigation will look for forced labor indicators such as restriction of movement, isolation, intimidation, threats, withholding of wages and abusive working and living conditions.

If CBP issues a WRO, this enables CBP personnel at the port of entry to detain the shipment if there is a reasonable belief the goods were made by forced labor. WRO seizures are not able to be admitted to the US and Importer of Records of WRO goods have 90 days to re-export detained shipments or submit proof to CBP the goods were not made with forced labor.

If your goods are subject to a WRO and you want to discuss your options – contact David Hsu by phone/text at anytime to 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

CBP issues detention order on clothing made from prison labor.

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) against garments produced by the “Hero Vast Group”. According to Customs, the Hero Vast Group includes entities such as: Shanghai Hero Vast International Trading Co., Ltd.; Henan Hero Vast Garment Co., Ltd.; Yuexi Hero Vast Garment Co., Ltd.; Ying Han International Co., Ltd.; and Hero Vast Canada Inc.

Under 19 USC 1307, you cannot import merchandise mined, manufactured, or produced through use of forced labor such as child labor, convict labor or through indentured labor.

CBP believes the Hero Vast Group is violation 19 USC 1307 by the use of prison labor to produce garments.

If you are subject to a withhold release order and your goods are detained, contact David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com. Our office may be able to

CBP revokes WRO on tuna harvested by the Tunago 61 vessel.

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Photo by Sebastian Coman Photography on Pexels.com

According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection media release – CBP announced that tuna and tuna products harvested from the Tunago No.61 vessel will be admissible at all U.S. ports of entry beginning April 1, 2020.

The revocation of withhold release order (WRO) on tuna and tuna products harvested from the Tunago No. 61 vessel was based on information provided to CBP that tuna and tuna products from this vessel are no longer produced under forced labor conditions.

A WRO is put in place prohibiting the importation of certain goods if CBP believes the goods being imported were made wholly or in part by forced labor, including convict labor, forced child labor, and indentured labor.

If you are subject to a pending WRO and want to discuss your options, or if you are aware of an importer using any type of forced labor; contact experienced customs attorney David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Children in China forced to produce Amazon Alexa devices. Where’s the outrage?

black amazon echo on table

Photo by Fabian Hurnaus on Pexels.com

According to the Guardian, a leaked document by China Labor Watch details school children in China forced to work over night to produce Amazon Alexa devices. The children were required to work nights and overtime to produce the smart-speaker devices at Foxconn, an OEM manufacturer supplying Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices.

The documents delivered to the Guardian indicate teenagers from schools and technical colleges in China were classified as “interns” with teachers being paid by the factory to accompany the students. The legal age of employment is 16, but school children are not allowed to work at night or overtime.

One “intern” quoted in the report said they were applying protective film on 3,000 Echo dots a day for 10 hours a day, six days a week for $2.34 an hour. When the intern complained, their teacher told them they had to work or else it may impact their ability to graduate from school.

Foxconn admitted students were working and they vowed to take action to remedy the problem. As Foxconn is also the OEM for Apple’s iPhone, it is unknown whether school children also made those devices.

It will be interesting to see what penalty Amazon will face. Most likely there will be a disparity in punishment – for example, the Ivory Coast is facing a potential ban of cocoa to the US due to the use of child labor; but there is no discussion for a ban of Amazon Alexa products. tudying computing, was given the task of applying a protective film to about 3,000 Echo Dots each day. Speaking to a researcher, she said she was initially told by her teacher that she would be working eight hours a day, five days a week, but that had since changed to 10 hours a day (including two hours’ overtime) for six days a week.

Will post more Amazon child labor violations as soon as they become available.

U.S. may ban cocoa imports from Ivory Coast due to potential use of child labor.

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Last week, Ivory Coast’s First Lady and US officials met to discuss a proposed US ban on Ivory Coast cocoa. Ivory coast is the world’s largest supplier of cooca (supplying 1/3 of all the world’s cocoa supply) and the Ivory Coast government is fighting every effort to block Ivorian cocoa from entering US ports.

The use of forced child labor to harvest cocoa has been an issue many chocolate wholesalers such as Mars, Nestle and Hershey have tried to eliminate, mostly through efforts such as monitoring supply chains and certification by third-party monitors. However, the recent report by two US Senators includes evidence of continued use of forced labor and the Washington Post reported earlier in June that 2 million children work in West African cocoa farms.

The Senators believe a new ban would further increase pressure on cocoa farmers and Customs officials are authorized to ban all products from entering the US if evidence indicates the products are or reasonably indicate they are produced with forced or indentured labor.

Will post more if the ban goes through, and if you want to avoid your company facing a ban due to any future customs issues, contact experienced trade and compliance attorney David Hsu, we can audit the supply chain process prior to importation to ensure compliance, call 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.