Contractual language against forced labor may not be enough to meet increasing supply chain due diligence regulations, particularly as the EU implements its corporate sustainability due diligence directive (see 2202230073 and 2306010022), Ernst & Young advisers said this week. Although there is still debate about how broadly the bloc’s new rules will be scoped, the advisers warned companies against blinding themselves to rising government expectations.
Canadian mining company GobiMin is "pleased" that the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) has "declined to pursue an investigation of GobiMin’s activities and that it recognized that GobiMin engaged in good faith with the CORE’s initial assessment," a company spokesperson said in an Aug. 22 email.
The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) will begin an investigation in response to a complaint accusing Ralph Lauren Canada LP of "using or benefiting" from Uyghur forced labor, CORE announced in a press release Aug. 15. This follows the publication of an Initial Assessment report for Ralph Lauren Canada detailing allegations that it has supply relationships with Chinese companies that use Uyghur forced labor.
Hong Kong-based apparel company Chagji Esquel Textile (CJE) and the Commerce Department filed a joint stipulation of dismissal on Aug. 11 in CJE's suit challenging its placement on the Entity List. The parties most recently filed a joint status report in June as they discussed the conditions related to the End-User Review Committee's July 2021 decision to drop the company from the Entity List (Changji Esquel Textile Co. v. Gina M. Raimondo, D.D.C. # 21-01798).
The House Select Committee on China is investigating U.S. investment firms BlackRock and index provider MSCI for their “decisions” that led to Americans investing savings into “dozens of blacklisted Chinese companies,” including entities that contribute to China’s human rights abuses, the committee said this week. In letters to the two firms, committee leaders said their investment-related decisions have resulted in Americans “unwittingly funding” Chinese entities building weapons for the country's military and contributing to the government's goal for “technological supremacy.”
CBP awarded Altana a “multi-year contract” to map supply chains for the agency for CBP’s use in addressing forced labor, the company said in a news release July 20. “This new award expands Altana’s relationship with CBP to help enable CBP officers and analysts to quickly understand the complexities of rapidly-shifting global supply chains, all using Altana’s Atlas,” Altana said. “The Atlas will assist CBP officers and analysts to analyze highly messy data at scale, harness artificial intelligence to triage and prioritize actions, and collaborate across borders to stop the flow of goods created by forced labor,” it said. CBP did not immediately comment.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reintroduced a bill that could impose “secondary sanctions” on companies doing business with entities that have been sanctioned for Uyghur-related human rights abuse in China’s Xinjiang region. The Sanctioning Supporters of Slave Labor Act, which was also introduced last year (see 2208020061), aims to better hold companies “accountable” for doing business with businesses tied to forced labor, Rubio said July 19. He said companies that “continue to do business with these sanctioned entities can still access the U.S. financial system,” adding that “not only should China’s genocidal regime answer for the crimes they are committing but also the companies that profit from these atrocities.”
A State Department official this week denied allegations that the agency has held back sanctions and export controls in an effort to limit damage to the U.S.-China relationship, saying the Biden administration continues to enforce a range of human rights-related trade restrictions against Beijing. But the official also said the administration hasn’t yet imposed mandatory sanctions under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 and was accused by at least one lawmaker of failing to comply with a congressional subpoena that sought information on sanctions against China.
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Canada launched investigations of Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold this week after receiving complaints that both companies’ supply chains have ties to forced labor in China. A Canadian agency said it’s probing allegations that Nike has “supply relationships” with Chinese companies that use Uyghur forced labor and that Dynasty Gold, a mining company, benefited from Uyghur forced labor at a Chinese mine in which it had a majority stake.