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handle is hein.crs/govedjo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: S Updated May 20, 2021 Section 307 and Imports Produced by Forced Labor Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1307) prohibits importing any productthat was mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor, including forced or indentured child labor. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforces theprohibition. Defining Forced Labor in Section 307 Forced Labor: All work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily. - 19 U.S.C. §1307; language modeled on the ILO Forced Labor Convention, 1930. U.S. customs lawhas prohibited importing goods produced by certain categories of labor since the end of the nineteenth century. Beginning in 1890, the United States prohibited imports of goods manufactured with convict labor. In 1930, Congress expanded this prohibition in Section 307 of the Tariff Act to include any (not just manufactured) products of forced labor. Although a few Members of Congress brought up humanitarian concerns during debate, thecentral legislative concern was with protecting domestic producers from competing with products made with forced labor. As such, Section 307 allowed the admission of products of forced labor if it could be shownthatno comparable product was made in the United States or the level of domestic production did not meet domestic demand (consumptive demand clause). Over the decades, lawmakers and civil society became increasingly concerned about forced labor in the context of human trafficking. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence PreventionActof2000 (P.L. 106-386), for example. included forced labor in its definition ofhuman trafficking. Similarly, Congress removed the consumptive demand clause, as part of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (P.L. 114-125) in 2015. Application of Section 307 Report ing Any individual who has reason to believe that any class of merchandisethat is being, or is likely to be, imported into the United States is being produced by forced labor may communicate thatbelief to CBP (Figure 1). As required by 19 C.F.R. §12.42, port directors and other principalcustom, officers must report such instances to the CBP Commissioner. Persons outsideofCBP may choose to report to the Commissioner, to any port director, or online. Investigations and Withhold Release Orders Upon receipt ofsuch areport, the CommissionerofCBPis required to initiate an investigation as appears warranted by the amount and reliability of the submitted information. If the Commis sioner of CBP finds the information reasonably but not conclusively indicates thatimports may be the productofforced labor, then she orhe is to issue an order to withhold release of such goods (W RO) pending further instructions. CBP has usually is sued WRQs that target specific goods fromspecific producers. Figure I. Application of Section 307 Receipt of CBP Commissioner allegaon or int ates CBP self-initiation investigation. 0 CBP Commissioner issues a WRO. Importer may export merchandise or contest the WRO. Any fin ftdings are published in the Federal Register. CBP seizes non-exported merchandise and commences forfeiture proceedings. Source: CBP. An importer has three months to contest a WRO and must demonstrate that he or shehas made every reasonable effort to determine both the source of and the type of labor used to produce the merchandise and its components. If the importer does not successfully contest theWRO and does not remove the merchandise at is sue fromthe United States, CBP is to seize and destroy it. Beyond publishing the date, merchandise type, manufacturer, and status of a WRO, CBP does not generally publish information about specific detentions, reexportations, exclusions, or seizures. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can pursue criminal investigations of Section 307 violations. Other Labor and Anti-Trafficking Measures W ROs are one of severalcongressionally mandated forced labor and anti-human trafficking measures. Others include the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (prepared in accordance with the Trade and DevelopmentAct of 2000, P.L. 106-200) and List of Goods Producedby Child LabororForcedLabor(requiredby the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, P.L. 109-164). These reports contain countryprofiles and lists of goods suspected to have been produced by chill or forced labor, but have traditionally been used to increase awareness rather than to informCBP actions. More broadly, various international conventions andguidelines of the United Nations and International Labor Organization (IID) address forced labor, and haveinformed U.S. approaches. Trends Following its enactment in 1930, Section 307 was rarely used to blockimports. The International Trade Commission reported that between 1930 and the mid-1980s there were approximately 60 to 75 instances when either interested parties requested orCustoms consideredthe applicationof https://crsrept :ongression~iI ~sesrch Service

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