DHS Announces New WRO on Chinese Ocean Fishing Fleet
CBP issued a new withhold release order on seafood harvested by vessels owned or operated by the Dalian Ocean Fishing of China, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on a May 28 call with reporters. CBP previously issued WROs on specific vessels, but this one is the first to apply to a full fleet, he said. Dalian's fleet includes 32 vessels, he said.
Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said the WRO also applies to end products like canned tuna and pet food. While several recent WROs aimed at China involve the suspected forced labor of Uyghur Muslims, that is not the case with this WRO, he said. The ships are “scattered off the coasts of China, Indonesia and Senegal” and the labor concerns mostly involve workers from Indonesia, he said
The fishing company is in bankruptcy and hasn't sent much seafood to the U.S. recently, Miller said. Last year, there were two entries worth about $233,000 and none so far this year from Dalian vessels, he said. But, “going back to 2018, there's about $21.6 million worth of imports, so as they come out of bankruptcy and we see activity, we wanted to be sure we address it now.”
During fiscal year 2021, CBP detained about 550 shipments containing more than $71.5 million worth of goods suspected of being made with forced labor, Mayorkas said. But “the detention numbers don't tell the whole story.” Miller said. “This fiscal year, CBP targeted a total of 1,174 shipments subject to withhold release orders that contain goods worth more than $735 million. Some importers, recognizing that their merchandise may be subject to detention, chose not to file for entry when their merchandise arrived at the U.S. port of entry. This tells us the withhold release orders act as a deterrent to importers trying to bring in products made by forced labor.”
Some expect CBP to eventually issue a WRO related to solar panel inputs from Xinjiang (see 2104260059), though when asked about that possibility, Miller declined to comment.