PREAMBLE
On August 2, 2017, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), became law and restricts entry into the United States, goods made wholly or in part by North Korean labor. Section 321(b) of CAATSA amended the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 by adding a new Section 302A, which creates a rebuttable presumption that goods made wholly or in part with North Korean labor are forced labor goods. More specifically, CAATSA provides that any significant goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by the labor of North Korean nationals or citizens (located anywhere in the world) are deemed to be prohibited under Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and will not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the United States unless the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the goods, wares, articles, or merchandise were not produced with convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor. Prior regulations issued by CBP pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930 suggest that this import prohibition may apply even where just one component of the merchandise at issue was manufactured by convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor.
A notable feature of Section 302A is that it creates a presumption that all North Korean labor is forced labor. There is no express carve-out at this point for North Korean defectors, asylum seekers or “stateless” undocumented workers who remain North Korean citizens or nationals, or where North Korean workers in the supply chain receive compensation and hold appropriate work permits, though these certainly could be factors that CBP[1] may consider in evaluating whether any North Korean labor in the supply chain is convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor.
If CBP finds evidence that reasonably indicates that goods being imported was mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, by the labor of North Korean nationals or citizens, then CBP not only can deny entry of the goods into the United States and seize and require forfeiture of the goods, but also can impose civil monetary penalties against the importer, and send the case to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to begin a criminal investigation.
The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB 657) along with the UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA 2015) also address issues of slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labor and human trafficking. These acts were designed to address the role of business, like Allwin21, in preventing modern slavery from occurring in their supply chains. Allwin21 is committed to ensuring there is transparency in its own business and in its approach to tackling modern slavery throughout its supply chain, consistent with its disclosure obligations under SB 657 and MSA 2015. Allwin21 expects the same high standards from all its contractors, suppliers and other business partners, as part of its contracting processes, Allwin21 includes specific prohibition against the use of forced, compulsory or trafficked labor, or anyone held in slavery or servitude, whether adults or children.
Allwin21 expects its suppliers to take action to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, including forced labor regulations (including CAATSA, Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, SB 657, and MSA 2015) for activities related to the Allwin21 supply chain. Specific to this request, Allwin21 is communicating its supplier expectations as follows:
SUPPLIER[2] EXPECTATIONS
- Utilize the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Worker Composition Survey or equivalent to conduct due diligence in your operations to identify nationalities of workers (i.e., complete the Survey and request that your suppliers complete the Survey as well).
- A separate Survey should be completed for each facility.
- Complete the Slavery and Trafficking Risk template (STRT) and provide to Allwin21 upon request. The STRT is available online at http://www.socialresponsibilityalliance.org/strt/
- Address any known instance of North Korean workers, slave labor, and/or human trafficking in your supply chain and relay to customers, as appropriate.
- Communicate your expectations to suppliers to report instances of North Korean workers, slave labor, and/or human trafficking and the expectation that suppliers will then flow down such expectations to their own suppliers.
DECLARATION
Vendor has made reasonable efforts to determine that no slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labor, and human trafficking (including North Korean nationals or citizens) has been involved in the mining, production or manufacturing, wholly or in part, of any significant goods, wares, articles and merchandise (including parts and components therefor).
Vendor has communicated to its suppliers the restrictions on the use of slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labor, and human trafficking (including North Korean citizens or nationals).
[1] The U.S. Government released “CAATSA Title III Section 321(b) FAQs” on April 2, 2018.
[2] For the purposes of compliance with CAATSA a “supplier” is defined as being involved in the mining, production or manufacture, wholly or in part, of any significant goods, wares, and articles.
