The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) was signed into law on February 24, 2016. One of the key areas of focus was forced labor.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) defines forced labor as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer work or service voluntarily. Indentured labor is defined as work or service performed pursuant to a contract, the enforcement of which can be accomplished by process or penalties. This includes forced or indentured child labor.”
CBP actions violations through issuance of Withhold Release Orders (WRO) to prevent merchandise produced in whole or in part in a foreign country using forced labor from being imported into the United States. Active WROs can be found on the CBP website.
Last week, CBP issued a withhold release order (WRO) on fresh tomatoes produced by Agropecuarios Tom S.A. de C.V., and Horticola S.A de C.V., and their subsidiaries. This order means CBP will detain all shipments of tomatoes from those farms. This is the first forced labor enforcement action involving Mexico. More information can be found in the press release issued by CBP.
CBP is responsible for preventing the entry of products made with forced labor into the U.S. market by investigating and acting upon allegations of forced labor in supply chains. Willson International encourages our clients to review the information on CBP’s website regarding forced labor and examine their supply chain for risk.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact the U.S. Regulatory Team at transitionus@willsonintl.com