Key Takeaways:
- CBP issues its first WRO in 17 months on Shanghai Select Safety Products Co., Ltd.
- As a result of the WRO, CBP personnel at U.S. ports of entry will detain work gloves manufactured by the Chinese entity and two affiliates.
On April 10, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
("CBP") issued a Withhold Release Order
("WRO") on a Chinese company, Shanghai
Select Safety Products Co., Ltd. ("Shanghai Select") and
its two subsidiaries, Select (Nantong ) Safety Products Co. Ltd.
and Select Protective Technology (HK) Ltd. The WRO applies to work
gloves that are manufactured by Shanghai Select and its
subsidiaries.
WROs are a key part of CBP's efforts to enforce 19 U.S.C.
§ 1307, which prohibits the importation of merchandise mined,
produced or manufactured, wholly or in part, by forced labor,
including prison labor. CBP issues a WRO when the agency has
"reasonable evidence of the use of forced labor in the
manufacturing or production of the good or goods" at issue.
This WRO is the first to be issued in over 17 months and, according
to CBP, is based on information that reasonably indicates the use
of forced labor in the production of the work gloves at issue, in
violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1307. However, CBP's press
release announcing the WRO did not specify which of the
International Labor Organization's indicators of forced labor
it found Shanghai Select to have breached. As a result of the WRO,
CBP personnel will detain work gloves manufactured by Shanghai
Select and its subsidiaries at U.S. ports of entry.
Additionally, the WRO is the first to target a Chinese entity since
the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
("UFLPA") went into effect on June 21,
2022. Under the UFLPA, all goods produced in whole or in part in
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
("XUAR"), or by an entity on the UFLPA
Entity List, are presumed to be made with forced labor and
prohibited from entry into the United States. It remains unclear as
to whether Shanghai Select's work gloves are connected to the
XUAR, therefore implicating the UFLPA as well.
Regardless of its relation to the UFLPA, this WRO is just one of
many actions taken by CBP against Chinese manufacturers suspected
of using forced labor in their manufacturing and production chains.
In a previous alert published earlier this year, we
discussed a potential CBP enforcement action involving thousands of
Volkswagen Group's vehicles at a U.S. port of entry for
suspected use of forced labor in the production of a vehicle
component originating from the XUAR, in potential violation of the
UFLPA and 19 U.S.C. § 1307. A complete list of all active CBP
WROs and findings related to forced labor is available here.
Foley Hoag's International Trade & National Security
and Global Business & Human Rights practice
groups have significant experience implementing best practices for
supply chain management and developing tailored forced labor and
human rights compliance procedures.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.