CBP Quickly Ramping Up UFLPA Enforcement Since Forced Labor Law Took Effect, Official Says
CBP has been “strongly enforcing” the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act “right out of the gate” since it took effect in June, having already targeted 1,452 entries valued at $429 million under the new law, said Robert Silvers, Homeland Security undersecretary-strategy, policy and plans, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Sept. 27.
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"We are committing a lot of resources to this. At present, this is a high commitment area, a high priority area. We do need more resources and our department looks forward to working with Congress to ensure appropriate resourcing for forced labor enforcement,” said Silvers, who leads the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force.
“Every day, we are learning more from industry, learning more from our assessment of the trade flows under this new law, and refining and honing our enforcement approach,” Silvers said.
While cotton, tomatoes and polysilicon products were designated under UFLPA as priority areas, the government is “looking closely at any other product category where forced labor may come into play,” Silvers said. “… We speak regularly with human rights and other advocacy groups that track the use of forced labor in Xinjiang and other places to hear their views on what product categories we ought to be looking at,” he said. “We have our own intelligence gathering in that respect within the U.S. government that we use.”