UNDER new provisions of a law signed by President Barack Obama this week, federal officials will enforce an 86-year-old ban on importing goods that were produced by children or slaves.
“This law slams shut an unconscionable and archaic loophole that forced America to accept products made by children or slave labor,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), who worked on the legislation.
The Tariff Act of 1930, which gave Customs and Border Protection the authority to seize shipments where forced labor was suspected and block further imports, was last used in 2000, reported The Associated Press. The Act has been used only 39 times altogether largely because of “consumptive demand,” which denotes that if there was not sufficient trade supply to meet the domestic demand, imports were allowed, regardless of how they were produced.
The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act signed by Obama on Wednesday, Feb. 24 eliminated that clause and allows stiffer enforcement. US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske and federal agency leaders are planning a briefing to explain how they will implement the new law.
The provisions were linked to cases of US imports of fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, gold mined by children in Africa, and clothing garments sewn by abused women in Bangladesh.
“If the US government works to really keep out goods made with forced labor, this change will have a profound ripple effect on supply chains worldwide,” said David Abramowitz, who advocated for the change as vice president for Humanity United.
To start an official investigation, Customs and Border Protection needs to receive a petition from anyone—business, agency, even a non-citizen—showing “reasonably but not conclusively” that imports were made at least in part with forced labor.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who offered the amendment eliminating the “consumptive demand” clause, said that his office is already asking Customs and Border Protection to ensure that they begin enforcing the new rules.
“It’s embarrassing that for 85 years, the United States let products made with forced labor into this country, and closing this loophole gives the US an important tool to fight global slavery,” Brown said.
A Labor Department list of more than 350 goods produced by child labor or forced labor provides a detailed breakdown that human rights groups plan to use as they petition the government to take further action. The list includes peanuts from Turkey, gold from Ghana, carpets from India, and seafood imports from Thailand.
An expose by The Associated Press in 2015 found Thai companies ship seafood to the US that was caught and processed by trapped and enslaved workers. As a result of the reports, more than 2,000 trapped fishermen have been rescued from illegal fishing islands, while more than a dozen alleged traffickers were arrested and millions of dollars’ worth of their fishing vessels seized.
A month after the investigation, Pres. Obama promised to repeal the consumptive demand exception’s loophole, and ensured “swift, strong and effective enforcement.”
Gavin Gibbons, a spokesman for National Fisheries Institute (which represents about 75 percent of the US seafood industry), said their members want to see the ban implemented and enforced.
“We support the closing of this anachronistic loophole and look forward to fair and judicious implementation,” he said.
According to a study by the WWF, over 85 percent of the world’s fish stocks are at significant risk of unreported, illegal fishing tactics, associated with slave labor, drugs, and arms smuggling.
Obama also signed the Port State Measures Agreement earlier this month, which bars foreign vessels from accessing ports if suspected of illegal fishing, reported The Independent.
