In February 2016, the Tariff Act was amended by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) which closed a loophole that previously allowed the import of goods made with forced labor if the consumption of the goods in the U.S. exceeded domestic production capacity.
By eliminating the "consumption demand clause," Customs and Border Protection (CBP) gained greater enforcement power in the fight against forced labor and human trafficking. On February 4, 2019, CBP issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) against tuna and tuna products from a Taiwaneseowned fishing vessel (Tunago No. 61), based on information that the tuna had been harvested with the use of forced labor. This is the first enforcement action by CBP under the new amendment. On February 22, 2019, CBP published a new mapping process for TFTEA enforcement actions. A list of active CBP WROs is available here.
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