On June 27, 2023, the US Departments of State, the Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and Homeland Security, and the United States Agency for International Development issued a joint advisory — the Africa Gold Advisory (“Advisory“) — that (i) highlights the opportunities and specific risks raised by the gold trade across sub-Saharan Africa and (ii) encourages industry participants to adopt and apply strengthened due diligence practices to guard against such risks. The Advisory states that it was…
Join us for a webinar on Forced labor developments in Mexico, Canada and the United States on Thursday, March 23, 2023 from 10:00 am – 11:00 am Central Time. In this webinar, our panelists will discuss Mexico’s implementation of the new Forced Labor Regulation, Canada’s implementation of supply chain transparency legislation, US forced labor enforcement trends, customs forced labor best practices and supply chain due diligence recommendations. Click here to register.
Después de mucha expectativa desde la entrada en vigor del Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (“T-MEC”), el 17 de febrero de 2023, la Secretaría de Economía publicó en el Diario Oficial de la Federación un Acuerdo que establece las mercancías cuya importación está sujeta a regulación a cargo de la Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (el “Acuerdo contra Trabajo Forzoso”), que prohíbe la importación de bienes producidos mediante trabajo forzoso. El Acuerdo…
After much anticipation since the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) entered into force, on February 17, 2023, the Ministry of Economy published in the Federal Official Gazette an Administrative regulation that sets forth the goods which importation is subject to regulation by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (the “Forced Labor Regulation”), which prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labor. The Forced Labor Regulation, which will become effective on May 18, 2023, implements…
US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) updated its guidance related to the new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) Region Alert, and announced that it will be deployed in the Automated Commercial Environment (“ACE”) on March 18, 2023. The deployment of the UFLPA Region Alert was delayed since it was first announced by CBP in 2022. The UFLPA Region Alert will add new validations to ACE in certain applications so that (i) a postal code…
The Annual Compliance Conference begins next week and attracts over 6,000 in-house senior legal and compliance professionals from across the world. This leading compliance conference will be held across five weeks from 6 September – 6 October 2022 We will be virtually delivering our cutting-edge insights and guidance on key global compliance, investigations and ethics issues. Our global experts will provide practical insights and analysis on significant developments:• anti-bribery• corruption and economic crime• customs and FTAs• ESG, supply chain…
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) took effect on June 21, 2022, and establishes a rebuttable presumption that all goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in Xinjiang, China, or by entities identified on the “UFLPA Entity List,” are made with forced labor and prohibits them from entry into the United States under Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930. A few days prior to the implementation of the UFLPA, US…
On June 13, 2022, US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued the long-awaited Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) Operational Guidance for Importers (“CBP UFLPA Guidance”). The UFLPA requires CBP to apply a presumption that imports of all merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in Xinjiang, China, or by entities identified on the “UFLPA Entity List,” are presumed to be made with forced labor and are prohibited from entry into the United…
The potential impact of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“Act”) is sweeping. For companies concerned about potential supply chain disruptions, there is now opportunity to help shape the enforcement strategy required under the Act. On January 24, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security published in the Federal Register a request for public comments. To date, few comments have been submitted. US importers and other interested parties should consider submitting comments that will both inform…
The compromise version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (HR 6256) (“Act”) was recently passed by both chambers of Congress, and the legislation is now cleared for President Biden’s signature. It is expected that President Biden will sign the legislation into law soon. With strong bipartisan support, earlier versions of this legislation had passed the US House and Senate in the preceding months, and lawmakers reached an agreement that merged versions from each chamber. …