DHS Adding 2 Chinese Entities, 1 Subsidiary to UFLPA Entity List

DHS will add a Chinese battery manufacturer along with a Chinese spice manufacturer and its subsidiary to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, the agency said in a notice released Aug. 1. Camel Group Co., a major manufacturer of car batteries, will be added for working with the Xinjiang government to “recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs” and other persecuted groups. DHS also will add spice and extract maker ChenGuang Biotech Group Co., Ltd., along with subsidiary Chenguang Biotechnology Group Yanqi Co. Ltd., for sourcing material from Xinjiang or from entities in the region that are involved in a “government labor scheme that uses forced labor.”

The new listings are effective Aug. 2. The companies will be subject to a rebuttable presumption that any goods they mine, produce or manufacture are made with forced labor and prohibited from importation.

DHS said Camel Group, based in China’s Hubei Province, is one of China’s “largest lead-acid battery manufacturers” and Chenguang Biotech Group, based in China’s Hebei Province, produces plant-based extracts, food additives, natural dyes, pigments and supplements from agricultural goods. Its subsidiary, Chenguang Biotechnology Group Yanqi, is in Xinjiang.

The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, which maintains UFLPA's Entity List, “continues to send a strong message to industry that the United States will not tolerate forced labor in our supply chains and that we will always stand up against cruel and inhumane labor practices,” said Robert Silvers, task force chair. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the Biden administration will “continue to work with all of our partners” to keep goods made with forced labor out of U.S. commerce “while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade.”

With these additions, 24 companies will be on the UFLPA Entity List. Since CBP began enforcing the UFLPA in June 2022, the agency has reviewed more than 4,600 shipments worth more than $1.64 billion under the UFLPA, DHS said.

The additions were announced just weeks after DHS added Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co. Ltd., Ninestar Corp. and eight of Ninestar’s Zhuhai-based subsidiaries to the list (see 2306090011). Silvers told a congressional commission in July to expect more UFLPA Entity List additions soon (see 2307110066).