State Department Encourages Importers to Join Forces With Labor Unions on WROs

The State Department is encouraging importers to join legally binding agreements with labor unions that include mechanisms for workers and employers to ensure labor standards are being met and resolve labor disputes, preventing forced labor indicators in the supply chain, a State Department official said at a CBP event on forced labor on March 14.

Speaking at CBP's Forced Labor Technical Expo, Kelly Fay Rodriguez, State's special representative for international labor affairs, pointed to the success of such a binding agreement in securing the lifting of a Withhold Release Order on an Indian garment factory (see 2209080055). CBP lifted the WRO after "advocates provided evidence that all five indicators of forced labor previously identified at the factory had been addressed," Rodriguez said.

"The remediation relied on a legally binding agreement recently established between the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union, Global Labor Justice, International Labor Rights Forum, Eastman Exports and fashion brands PVH Corp. and Gap Inc,” Rodriguez said. “I urge you to build these kinds of efforts with credible labor partners, because having workers as part of the process will help build and strengthen any commitments that you want to make.”

Rodriguez also announced that State is working on adding an addendum to their Xinjiang business advisory that “will highlight recent reports on continuing human rights abuses in Xinjiang.” This business advisory was issued in 2020 and updated in 2021 (see 2107130046), and stresses that businesses who do not exit supply chains connected to Xinjiang “risk violating US law and facing the financial impacts,” Rodriguez said.

Meanwhile, “CBP is currently reviewing 11 petitions for WRO modifications or remediations today," acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said at the event. "These reviews require extensive analysis of corrective actions taken by petitioners and validation of information and data presented," he said. The WRO modification efforts "are not only protecting entrepreneurs and businesses from unfair competition, but also directly improving the living and working conditions for workers worldwide,” Miller added.

Miller pointed out that while shipments being detained under forced labor are up, shipments being detained under UFLPA represent .01% of all shipments. “Overall this is obviously a very small number of shipments subject to CBP’s enforcement actions,” Miller added.