CIT Grants US Request to Treat Docs as 'Highly Sensitive' in UFLPA Entity List Case

The Court of International Trade in an Oct. 30 order granted the U.S. motion to treat certain parts of the record as "highly sensitive documents" in a case on exporter Ninestar Corp.'s addition to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Judge Gary Katzmann agreed to the request following a dispute on whether to allow the government to amend the protective order in the suit. The government argued that the documents, if revealed, could "'pose a danger of physical harm to certain persons" (see 2310300041) (Ninestar Corp. v. United States, CIT # 23-00182).

Since filing its suit, Chinese printer cartridge maker Ninestar has argued against the government's heavy redaction of information on the record. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force has defended the redaction as needed for security purposes, only revealing that it relied on information from Ninestar, press clippings and Chinese government documents.

FLETF added Ninestar and its subsidiaries to the UFLPA Entity List in June for allegedly working with the Xinjiang government to reap the benefits of forced labor by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz or members of other persecuted groups in Xinjiang (see 2308230016).