On August 4, 2022, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as the Chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), formally published the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The Entity list is a consolidated register of the four lists required to be developed and maintained pursuant to Section 2(d)(2)(B) of the UFLPA. DHS also released details on seeking changes to the UFLPA Entity List, including requests for removal from the list.
For our previous blog entries on the UFLPA and its implementation, see posts here, here, here, here, here and here.
UFLPA requires the Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to apply a rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced, or manufactured by entities on the UFLPA Entity List are made with forced labor, and therefore, are prohibited from importation into the United States under 19 USC 1307. The law also required the FLETF to create and maintain a list of entities alleged to be using forced labor in operations within Xinjiang or other parts of China, broken into four parts:
- a list of entities in Xinjiang that allegedly mine, produce, or manufacture wholly or in part any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise with forced labor;
- a list of entities allegedly working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang;
- a list of entities that exported products made by entities in lists 1 and 2 from the People’s Republic of China into the United States; and
- a list of facilities and entities, including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, that allegedly source material from Xinjiang or from persons working with the government of Xinjiang or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for purposes of the ”poverty alleviation” program or the ”pairing-assistance” program or any other government-labor scheme that allegedly uses forced labor.
The UFLPA Entity List consolidates these four lists. In accordance with Section 3(e) of the UFLPA, effective June 21, 2022, entities on the UFLPA Entity List are subject to the UFLPA’s rebuttable presumption, and products those entities produce, wholly or in part, are prohibited from entry into the United States. A copy of the ULFPA Entity List is included as Appendix 1 here.
The August 4, 2022 notice also provides details on how listed entities may seek removal from the list. As part of such requests, impacted entities should provide information that demonstrates that the entity no longer meets or does not meet the criteria described in the applicable UFLPA clause governing its inclusion on the UFLPA Entity List. Decisions to remove an entity from the UFLPA Entity List will be made by majority vote of the FLETF member agencies. In addition to DHS, the FLETF member agencies are the Office of the US Trade Representative, and the Departments of Labor, State, Justice, Treasury, and Commerce. The Departments of Energy and Agriculture, the US Agency for International Development, the National Security Council, CBP, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations participate as observer agencies.
Future revisions to the UFLPA Entity List, which may include additions, removals, or technical corrections, will be published here and in the appendices of future Federal Register notices.