How to Avoid Falling Foul of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

It’s been a little more than a year since the U.S. government enacted its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), a mechanism to prevent goods made with forced labor in Xinjiang, China, from entering the country. In that time, apparel, footwear and textiles have accounted for over $31 million in shipments detained by U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBP) under the UFLPA. That’s according to Ben Kelbaugh, director of sales for the software company SourceMap, who said the stakes will only get higher. Speaking Thursday during an industry call hosted by the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, Kelbaugh said, “Enforcement of the law is increasingly ramping up in new industries. Additionally, other U.S. government entities such as the House Select Committee on China and the Senate Finance Committee have started specifically calling out organizations for their links to forced labor and the ex-Uyghur region. CBP is increasing staffing; they’re increasing funding. And so all signs point to UFLPA compliance becoming a more serious concern for all industries moving forward.” FDRA’s vice president of government affairs, Thomas Crockett, noted on the call that the UFLPA considers any good connected — in any way — to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China to be produced with

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