CBP to Expand CTPAT Preliminary Hold Notification Benefit to WROs, Forced Labor Findings

CBP will expand its preliminary hold notification benefit for Trade Compliance program members of the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) to include withhold release orders (WROs) and forced labor findings, the agency announced in a May 30 letter to CTPAT participants. Preliminary hold notifications were first offered as a benefit for Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) holds back in March (see 2304260045).

The original benefit for CTPAT Trade Compliance members was that CBP would provide, to the best of its ability, "advanced notice of a possible hold, detention, exclusion, and/or seizure of merchandise after the entry is filed for cargo arriving in the United States and subject to the UFLPA," CBP said in the letter. That benefit will be expanded to include both WROs and forced labor findings.

Preliminary notifications will be provided to points of contact within the Trade Compliance program and who have the "email notification" box marked to receive notifications, CBP said. "The notification will include the entry number and associated lines that may be subject to a detention, exclusion, and/or seizure due to an active Withhold Release Order or Finding of Forced Labor pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1307," the agency said.

Further information regarding the entry can be obtained from the licensed customs broker used for the shipment; as with preliminary hold notifications for UFLPA, CBP will be unable to provide further information "beyond what is provided in the notification" for WROs and forced labor findings, it said. "The notification does not denote any final decision made by CBP but may be used by the importer to prepare for a possible shipment hold, detention, exclusion, and/or seizure," CBP said.