USA: Customs and Border Protection blocks imports of products allegedly made by forced labour in China
Autor(a): Thomson Reuters Foundation, Publicado en: 17 August 2020
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently stepped up efforts to block the imports of products made by forced labor”, 14 August 2020
… U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said… it had collected $575,000 from Pure Circle U.S.A. following a civil action, the first such penalty issued since the passage of the 2015 Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act.
The law bans the import of goods made entirely or in part by forced labor, ranging from prison work to bonded child labor.
The agency seized a shipment of stevia - a plant extract used as a sweetener in sodas - in May 2016 after receiving information that it was made by prison labor. The CBP did not specify where in China the product was produced.
The agency said subsequent investigations led it to obtain evidence that at least 20 shipments of stevia powder and derivatives had been processed in China with prison labor.
"As part of its trade enforcement responsibilities, CBP will hold companies accountable for importing goods produced with forced labor," Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP's Office of Trade, said in a statement.
Pure Circle was not immediately available to comment, but the company in 2016 disputed the CBP's findings and then said it had a policy prohibiting the use of prison or forced labor.
The Chinese embassy in Washington was not immediately available to comment…
[Also referred to Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co, Top Glove Corporation]
Empresas relacionadas: Top Glove