Release Date: October 31, 2024
UFLPA Entity List Will Now Restrict Goods from 78 PRC-Based Companies from Entering the United States
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of textile companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The additions reinforce DHS’s commitment to eradicate forced labor and ensure accountability for the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Effective November 1, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by Esquel Group, Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., and Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. will be prohibited from entering the United States. The addition of these textile entities builds on DHS’s Textile Enforcement Plan and demonstrates the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force’s (FLETF) commitment to focus on entities in high priority sectors for enforcement under the UFLPA Strategy, including the apparel and cotton and cotton products sectors. In addition to this announcement, Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. will also be removed from one section of the UFLPA Entity Lists and added to another. Goods produced by Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (also known as Changji Yida Textile Co., Ltd.) will continue to be subject to a rebuttable presumption that they are prohibited from entering the United States.
“Through today’s expansion of the Entity List, we enable American businesses to better assess their supply chains and ensure they do not profit, directly or indirectly, from the use of forced labor,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Our Department will continue to aggressively enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and, in doing so, we stand up for human rights, safeguard a free and fair marketplace, and hold perpetrators accountable.”
The FLETF – chaired by DHS and whose member agencies also include the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justice, Labor, State, and the Treasury – has now added 78 entities to the UFLPA Entity List since the UFLPA was signed into law in December 2021. The UFLPA Entity List includes companies that are active in the apparel, agriculture, polysilicon, plastics, chemicals, batteries, household appliances, electronics, seafood and textile sectors, among others. Identifying these additional entities provides U.S. importers with more information to conduct due diligence and examine their supply chains for risks of forced labor to ensure compliance with the UFLPA.
“We are uncompromising in removing forced labor from U.S. supply chains,” said Under Secretary for Policy Robert Silvers, who serves as chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force. “Our enforcement efforts are yielding results. Our Administration is committed to advancing this momentum and strengthening accountability across global supply chains.”
Full press release available here: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/10/31/dhs-places-additional-prc-based-textile-companies-uflpa-entity-list
Read more about the FLETF: https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa
For questions, please contact privatesector@hq.dhs.gov.
