Notice2022-05738
Notice of Public Hearing on the Use of Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China and Measures To Prevent the Importation of Goods Produced, Mined, or Manufactured, Wholly or in Part, With Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China Into the United States
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 18, 2022
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security Department
Abstract
The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) will hold a public hearing, as required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, on the use of forced labor in the People's Republic of China and potential 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 into the United States. This hearing will be held remotely via web conference.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 53 (Friday, March 18, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15448-15449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05738]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[Docket No. DHS-2022-0001]
Notice of Public Hearing on the Use of Forced Labor in the
People's Republic of China and Measures To Prevent the Importation of
Goods Produced, Mined, or Manufactured, Wholly or in Part, With Forced
Labor in the People's Republic of China Into the United States
AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Notice of public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) will hold a
public hearing, as required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,
on the use of forced labor in the People's Republic of China and
potential 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 into the United States. This hearing will be held
remotely via web conference.
DATES: The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) will hold the
hearing on Friday, April 8, 2022, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 1:30
p.m. EDT. Members of the public interested in providing public
testimony must register by Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 11:59 p.m. EDT;
instructions on how to register are included in ADDRESSES. Please note
that the hearing may close early, or run over time, depending on the
number of registered speakers. Allocation of time within the event may
shift based on participation and registration per topic area, as listed
in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held remotely via web conference.
Members of the public interested in providing public testimony at the
hearing must register at the following link, <a href="https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ">https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ</a>, by Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 11:59 p.m. EDT. You must
indicate in the registration form that you want to speak by selecting
``provide public testimony'' in question 6 (explaining how you are
``requesting to'' participate). You must register for the public
hearing with the same email address that you plan to use to login to
attend the public hearing. When registering, identify the topic area on
which you would like to speak. More information regarding the list of
topics is included in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.
Members of the public interested in attending in listen-only mode
can
[[Page 15449]]
register at the same link, <a href="https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ">https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ</a>, by
selecting ``attend (listen only)'' in question 6 (explaining how you
are ``requesting to'' participate). You must register for the public
hearing by 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 6, 2022 to ensure you will receive
the conference link. The conference link will be provided to all
registrants by 8:00 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 8, 2022.
Reasonable accommodations are available for people with
disabilities. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the person
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below as soon as
possible. DHS is considering providing interpretation services for
those interested in providing public testimony in the following
languages: Spanish, Mandarin, and Uyghur. It is requested that you
advise the FLETF accordingly when registering to participate, at the
same registration link, <a href="https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ">https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ</a>.
Written comments related to this public hearing were submitted
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a>
and posted. For access to the docket and to read comments received by
the FLETF, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a> and search for Docket ID
DHS-2022-0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Echeverria, Acting Director of
Trade Policy, Trade and Economic Security, Office of Strategy, Policy,
and Plans, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at 202-938-6365
or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#32747e7766741c6267707e7b711c717d7f7f777c6661725a431c565a411c555d44"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="de98929b8a98f08e8b9c92979df09d9193939b908a8d9eb6aff0bab6adf0b9b1a8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Uyghur Forced Labor
Prevention Act (UFLPA),\1\ this notice announces that DHS, on behalf of
the FLETF,\2\ will hold a public hearing that will allow for public
testimony on the use of forced labor in the People's Republic of China
(PRC) and potential measures to prevent the importation of goods,
wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor in the PRC into the United States.
The hearing will consider measures that 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 PRC, as well as
other measures for ensuring that such goods do not enter the United
States.
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\1\ See Public Law 117-78, section 2(b).
\2\ Section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4681) established the FLETF to monitor
U. S. enforcement of the prohibition under Section 307 of the Tariff
Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1307).
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The FLETF invites the public to speak during the hearing, and
recommends that interested parties review the Notice that requested
comments on the measures described by the UFLPA.\3\ Members of the
public who are interested in speaking during this hearing should
register in accordance with the directions in the ADDRESSES section of
this notice. If you register to provide public testimony, you will be
called upon using the name you provide during registration to offer
public testimony. If you wish to highlight your affiliation with an
association, organization, or corporation, you must provide this
information during your remarks. We also request that each speaker
limit their comments to three minutes. The hearing will be broken into
sections based on topics in the order below. If DHS provides
interpretation services for public testimony based on public request,
public testimony requiring interpretation services will occur after the
remarks to open the hearing. Each speaker will be called on during the
section related to the topic that speaker identified during
registration. The order of topics is as follows:
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\3\ See, 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, 87 FR
3567 (Jan. 24, 2022).
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<bullet> Forced Labor Schemes in Xinjiang and the PRC;
<bullet> Risks of Importing Goods Made Wholly or in Part with
Forced Labor;
<bullet> Measures That Can Be Taken to Trace the Origin of Goods
and to Offer Greater Supply Chain Transparency;
<bullet> Measures That Can Be Taken to Identify Third Country
Supply Chain Routes;
<bullet> Factors To Consider in Developing and Maintaining the
Required Entities List;
<bullet> High Priority Sectors, Including Cotton, Tomato, and/or
Polysilicon Supply Chains, for Enforcement;
<bullet> Needed Importer Guidance;
<bullet> Opportunities for Coordination and Collaboration; and,
<bullet> Other General Comments Related to the Uyghur Forced Labor
Prevention Act and Comments Covering Multiple Topics.
Speakers may submit supplemental written testimony.\4\ Written
testimony should be submitted to the email provided in ADDRESSES
(<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#07414b425341295752454b4e442944484a4a42495354476f7629636f7429606871"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b0f6fcf5e4f69ee0e5f2fcf9f39ef3fffdfdf5fee4e3f0d8c19ed4d8c39ed7dfc6">[email protected]</span></a>). Please use the email used to
register for the public hearing to submit supplemental written
testimony in .doc, .docx or .pdf form by April 8, 2022 at 9 a.m. The
public hearing transcript and all written testimony, submitted
according to the above guidelines, will be posted in Docket No. DHS-
2022-0001 after the public hearing. Confidential information should not
be provided through the public hearing process, in either written or
oral testimony. The FLETF cannot accept any written testimony that is
hand-delivered, couriered, or mailed at this time. This hearing along
with all comments will be recorded and transcribed.
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\4\ Written testimony will only be accepted from speakers
providing oral testimony.
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Senior officials of the interagency members represented in the
FLETF, including the FLETF Chair (DHS Undersecretary for Strategy,
Policy, and Plans),\5\ will make remarks to open the hearing, and will
continue to observe the hearing unless called away for official
responsibilities. Staff from each of the FLETF interagency members will
be present throughout the entirety of the hearing to take note of the
public testimony. As mentioned above, this public hearing will be
recorded and transcribed.
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\5\ Pursuant to DHS Delegation Order No.23034, the DHS Under
Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans serves as the Chair of the
FLETF.
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On January 24, 2022, DHS, on behalf of the FLETF, published a
notice document (Notice) requesting public comments on how best to
ensure that goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the PRC are not
imported into the United States. See 87 FR 3567. DHS and the FLETF
recommend that members of the public that will attend the hearing
review the Notice in advance.
The FLETF will use the comments received from the Notice and
information gathered from this public hearing to inform the development
of the strategy required by the UFLPA.\6\ The FLETF will consider all
comments and information received during this public hearing.
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\6\ See Public Law 117-78, section 2(c).
Robert Silvers,
Under Secretary, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans.
[FR Doc. 2022-05738 Filed 3-15-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE P
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