Notice2022-01444
Notice Seeking Public Comments on Methods To Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured With Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China, Especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Into the United States
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Published
January 24, 2022
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on behalf of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), is seeking comments from the public, as required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, on how best to ensure that goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China are not imported into the United States. Such goods, wares, articles and merchandise include those mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and members of other persecuted groups in the People's Republic of China, and especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. After receiving comments, the FLETF will conduct a public hearing and develop a strategy for supporting enforcement of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 15 (Monday, January 24, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 15 (Monday, January 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3567-3570]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01444]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[Docket No. DHS-2022-0001]
Notice Seeking Public Comments on Methods To Prevent the
Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured With Forced Labor
in the People's Republic of China, Especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, Into the United States
AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on behalf of the
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), is seeking comments from
the public, as required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, on
how best to ensure that goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the
People's Republic of China are not imported into the United States.
Such goods, wares, articles and merchandise include those mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor by
Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and members of other persecuted
groups in the People's Republic of China, and especially in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. After receiving comments, the FLETF
will conduct a public hearing and develop a strategy for supporting
enforcement of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 10, 2022 at 11:59
p.m. EST.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this notice, identified by Docket
No. DHS-2022-0001, through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the website instructions for submitting
comments.
[[Page 3568]]
Comments submitted in a manner other than those discussed in this
Notice will not be considered by the Forced Labor Enforcement Task
Force (FLETF). Please note that the FLETF cannot accept any comments
that are hand-delivered or couriered. In addition, the FLETF cannot
accept comments contained on any form of digital media storage devices,
such as CDs/DVDs and USB drives. The FLETF is also not accepting mailed
comments at this time. If you cannot submit your comment by using
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, please contact DHS Trade Policy at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#26606a637260087673646a6f650865696b6b63687275664e5708424e5508414950"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="aaece6effeec84faffe8e6e3e984e9e5e7e7efe4fef9eac2db84cec2d984cdc5dc">[email protected]</span></a> or 202-938-6365 for alternate
instructions.
For additional instructions regarding submitting comments, see
section I of this notice, ``Submission Instructions for Public
Comments.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Echeverria, Acting Director of
Trade Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security at 202-938-6365 or
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#42040e0716046c1217000e0b016c010d0f0f070c1611022a336c262a316c252d34"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2a6c666f7e6c047a7f6866636904696567676f647e796a425b044e4259044d455c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Submission Instructions for Public Comments
The FLETF invites all interested parties to provide written data,
views, and comments on all aspects of this notice.
Instructions: If you submit a comment, you must include the task
force name (the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force) and DHS Docket No.
DHS-2022-001. All comments or materials submitted in the manner
described above will be posted, without change, to the Federal
eRulemaking portal at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and will include any
personal information you provide. You may wish to consider limiting the
amount of personal information that you provide in any voluntary public
comment submission to the FLETF. DHS may withhold from public view
information provided in comments that it determines may impact the
privacy of an individual or is offensive. For additional information,
please read the Privacy Notice available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice">https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice</a>.
Confidential Business Information Submissions: To submit a public
comment that includes confidential business information, you must
follow these instructions. If you do not follow these instructions,
your comment may be posted without change to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. For purposes of this notice, confidential business
information is protected information which includes business
confidential information, trade secrets, or commercial or financial
information that is confidential or privileged; information that, if
disclosed, would invade another individual's personal privacy; and
other Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption-qualifying
information.
To submit any confidential business information to the FLETF,
please submit your comment, with the confidential business information
included, by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d7919b928391f98782959b9e94f994989a9a9299838497bfa6f9b3bfa4f9b0b8a1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d0969c958496fe8085929c9993fe939f9d9d959e848390b8a1feb4b8a3feb7bfa6">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
a heading or cover note that states ``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS
CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION.'' Please clearly identify the
portions of the emailed comment which constitute protected information.
The FLETF will review the claimed confidential business information in
its consideration of comments.
If you submit a confidential business information submission by
email, please also submit a public version of the comment with
identified confidential information removed. The FLETF will place the
public version of the comment in the docket at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Public comments with confidential information
submitted only by email, and not in conjunction with a public
submission via <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> may not be reviewed by the
FLETF.
Docket: For access to the docket to view comments, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/and">https://www.regulations.gov/and</a> search for DHS Docket No. DHS-2022-0001. You
may also sign up for email alerts on the online docket to be notified
when comments are posted.
II. Background
A. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force
Pursuant to section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19
U.S.C. 1307), ``[a]ll goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in any foreign country by
convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal
sanctions shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the
United States, and the importation thereof is hereby prohibited.''
Under this section, the term ``forced labor'' includes ``all work or
service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any
penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer
himself voluntarily'' and includes forced or indentured child labor.
Section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Implementation Act established the FLETF to monitor United States
enforcement of the prohibition under section 307 of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1307). See 19 U.S.C. 4681. Pursuant to DHS
Delegation Order No. 23034, the DHS Under Secretary for Strategy,
Policy, and Plans serves as Chair of the FLETF, an interagency task
force that includes the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of
the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Departments of Labor, State,
Justice, the Treasury and Commerce.\1\ See 19 U.S.C. 4681; Executive
Order 13923 (May 15, 2020). The Chair may invite other federal
departments or agencies to participate as members or observers. See
Executive Order 13923 (May 15, 2020).
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\1\ The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as the FLETF
Chair, has the authority to invite representatives from other
executive departments and agencies, as appropriate. See Executive
Order 13923 (May 15, 2020). The U.S. Department of Commerce is a
member of the FLETF as invited by the Chair.
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The FLETF must meet quarterly to discuss active Withhold Release
Orders, ongoing investigations, petitions received, enforcement
priorities, and other relevant issues with respect to enforcing the
prohibition under section 307. See 19 U.S.C. 4681(b). The FLETF must
also submit biannual reports to appropriate congressional committees.
See 19 U.S.C. 4683. These reports must include DHS enforcement
priorities for and activities taken pursuant to section 307; the number
of times merchandise was denied entry pursuant to the prohibition
within the preceding 180 days and a description of the merchandise
denied entry; an enforcement plan regarding goods described under
recent Department of Labor (DOL) reports on international child labor
and forced labor; and any other information the FLETF considers
relevant with respect to monitoring and enforcing compliance under
section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. See 19 U.S.C. 4683.
B. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act: Preventing Goods Made With
Forced Labor From the People's Republic of China From Being Imported
Into the United States
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (Pub. L. 117-78) (``UFLPA'')
requires, among other things, that the FLETF, in consultation with the
Secretary of Commerce and the Director of National Intelligence,
develop a strategy for supporting enforcement of
[[Page 3569]]
section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1307), to
prevent the importation into the United States of goods, wares,
articles and merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in
part by forced labor in the People's Republic of China, and especially
in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In developing and presenting
this strategy, the UFLPA requires that the FLETF:
<bullet> Publish this notice in the Federal Register to solicit
public comments, for not less than 45 days, on how best to ensure that
goods, wares, articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China,
including by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and members of other
persecuted groups in the People's Republic of China, and especially in
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, are not imported into the United
States. See Public Law 117-78, Sec. 2(a);
<bullet> Not later than 45 days after the close of the comment
period, conduct a public hearing inviting witnesses to testify with
respect to the use of forced labor in the People's Republic of China
and potential measures to prevent the importation into the United
States of goods, wares, articles and merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's
Republic of China. See Public Law 117-78, 2(b); and
<bullet> Not later than 180 days after the enactment of the UFLPA,
in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of
National Intelligence, submit to the appropriate congressional
committees an initial report that includes the strategy for supporting
enforcement of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, to
prevent the importation into the United States of goods, wares,
articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China. Updates to
the strategy shall be submitted to the appropriate congressional
committees on an annual basis. See Public Law 117-78, Sec. Sec. 2(c),
(e).
III. Request for Public Comments
A. Importance of Public Comments
Public comments will be vital to robust implementation of the
UFLPA. Comments from all relevant stakeholders are encouraged to ensure
that the FLETF accounts for a diverse and wide range of perspectives in
developing a strategy to prevent the importation of goods, wares,
articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China.
Comments should be detailed and provide sufficient information to
understand and assess concerns related to the risk of importing goods,
wares, articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured from
specific regions, sectors, facilities, and entities in the People's
Republic of China. Proposed approaches and measures to implement the
UFLPA should be as detailed as practicable.
B. List of Questions for Commenters
To assist in the development of comments, members of the public may
consider the following non-exhaustive list of questions. This list is
not intended to restrict the issues that commenters may address.
1. What are the risks of importing goods, wares, articles and
merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the People's Republic of China, including from the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz,
Tibetans, or members of other persecuted groups in any other part of
the People's Republic of China?
2. To the extent feasible, as part of the assessment of risks, what
mechanisms, including the potential involvement in supply chains of
entities that may use forced labor, could lead to the importation into
the United States from the People's Republic of China, including
through third countries, of goods, wares, articles and merchandise
mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor?
3. What procedures can be implemented or improved to reduce the
threats identified in Question 2?
4. What forms does the use of forced labor take in the People's
Republic of China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region? For
example, what ``pairing assistance'' and ``poverty alleviation'' or
other government labor schemes exist in the People's Republic of China
that include the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or
members of other persecuted groups outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region? What similar programs exist in which work or
services are extracted from Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or
members of other persecuted groups under the threat of penalty or for
which they have not offered themselves voluntarily?
5. What goods are mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or by
entities that work with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive
forced labor?
6. In addition to cotton, tomatoes, and polysilicon, are there any
other sectors which should be high-priority for enforcement?
7. What unique characteristics of such high-priority sector supply
chains, including cotton, tomato, and/or the polysilicon supply chains,
need to be considered in developing measures to prevent the importation
of goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced
labor in the People's Republic of China?
8. How can the United States identify additional entities that
export products that are mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or by
entities that work with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive
forced labor?
9. How can the United States most effectively enforce the UFLPA
against entities whose goods, wares, articles, or merchandise are made
wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China
and imported into the United States?
10. What efforts, initiatives, and tools and technologies should be
adopted to ensure that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can
accurately identify and trace goods entered at any U.S. ports in
violation of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended?
11. What due diligence, effective supply chain tracing, and supply
chain management measures can importers leverage to ensure that they do
not import any goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part
with forced labor from the People's Republic of China, especially from
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region?
12. What type, nature, and extent of evidence can companies provide
to reasonably demonstrate that goods originating in the People's
Republic of China were not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or
in part with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region?
13. What tools could provide greater clarity to companies on how to
ensure upcoming importations from the People's Republic of China were
not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced
labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region? To what extent is there
a need for a common set of supply chain traceability and verification
standards, through a widely endorsed protocol,
[[Page 3570]]
and what current government or private sector infrastructure exists to
support such a protocol?
14. What type, nature, and extent of evidence can demonstrate that
goods originating in the People's Republic of China, including goods
detained or seized pursuant to section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930,
as amended, were not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part
with forced labor?
15. What measures can be taken to trace the origin of goods, offer
greater supply chain transparency, and identify third-country supply
chain routes for goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China?
16. How can the U.S. Government coordinate and collaborate on an
ongoing basis with appropriate nongovernmental organizations and
private sector entities to implement and update the strategy that the
FLETF will produce pursuant to the UFLPA?
17. How can the U.S. Government improve coordination with
nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to combat forced
labor in supply chains, and how can these serve as a model to support
implementation of the UFLPA?
18. Is there any additional information the FLETF should consider
related to how best to implement the UFLPA, including other measures
for ensuring that goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor do not enter the United States?
Robert Silvers,
Under Secretary, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans.
[FR Doc. 2022-01444 Filed 1-20-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9110-9M-P
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