Forced Labor Advocacy Groups Oppose Proposed 21CCF Manifest Data Change

Advocacy groups expressed "outrage" over a recent proposal from trade participants in the 21st Century Customs Framework initiative to make ocean manifest data confidential, in an open letter to CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus dated Oct. 20.

The letter alleges that the legislative proposal from the 21st Century Customs Framework focus group (see 2210140051) would derail forced labor investigations and enforcement if enacted. Public disclosure of import/export data is "critical to tracing and monitoring forced labor risks in supply chains," the letter said, and the authors asked CBP to "demonstrate its continued commitment to combating forced labor" by rejecting the call for confidentiality of vessel manifest data.

The letter was signed by some 40 groups, including Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Oxfam America, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and Verite.

U.S. law already grants both importers and shippers the right to request confidentiality of their data on a case-by-case basis, the letter said. The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) proposal advocates additional legislative amendments that could "hobble" the agency’s ability to enforce forced labor laws, as well as the ability of civil society to share evidence of forced labor in U.S. supply chains, it said. The letter also says that the proposal would "drive up procedural complexity" of the forced labor enforcement process by placing additional administrative burdens on CBP as it attempts to combat forced labor.

Reached for comment, CBP said it has "regular discussions and exchanges of ideas with the COAC in its role as a Federal Advisory Committee" and while the agency "welcomes input from diverse stakeholders," it declined comment on ideas or concepts that have not been formally submitted by the COAC.