DHS Planning International Outreach, Enforcement Expansion for Goods Made With Forced Labor

The Department of Homeland Security plans to “expand its capacity to assess civil penalties and pursue criminal prosecutions against U.S. importers for violations of forced labor authorities,” it said in a recently released strategy document aiming at fighting forced labor imports and human trafficking. “DHS will consider streamlining regulatory frameworks guiding the process for forced labor enforcement actions,” it said. “DHS will also coordinate, consolidate, and publicize allegation and intake reporting channels and other information to ensure quality, actionable leads, gain information for ongoing cases, and verify forced labor allegations.“

Also as part of the effort, DHS will encourage other countries to “adopt reciprocal safeguards,” it said. As part of that DHS will “obtain agreements to support investigation and verification of forced labor allegations,” it said. “DHS will also work with international partners in the process of adopting the prohibition on a two-way system for issuing trade alerts when enforcement actions go into effect.” Although some countries restrict imports of forced labor goods, “no other nation has civil and criminal penalties associated with importation,” DHS said. “This lack of criminal designation in partner nations can undermine our ability to interdict these shipments, as shippers can recall goods seized at our ports before attempting to re-import the goods following transshipment.”