Law Doesn't Allow Leniency in Forced Labor WROs to Allow 'Remediation,' CBP Official Says

CBP may have trouble allowing importers to “remediate” forced labor issues, including by way of grace periods, before it prohibits imports of goods produced using forced labor, said Ana Hinojosa, executive director of CBP’s Trade Remedy and Law Enforcement Division, at the July 15 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. Hinojosa was responding to a COAC recommendation that CBP allow importers to attempt to address forced labor issues prior to any CBP withhold release order (WRO) taking effect (see 2007100030). That way, importers could use their leverage over suppliers to try to get their suppliers to change their practices. But by law, if CBP determines that goods are produced via forced labor, then imports of those goods are deemed prohibited, Hinojosa said. CBP does not have the discretion to have prohibited goods enter the U.S., she said.