The Biden administration banned the importation of a slew of seafood products that were caught by workers in forced labor on Chinese ships.
Department of Homeland Security officials announced Friday that U.S. customs inspectors will not allow tuna, swordfish, and other seafood from the Dalian Ocean Co. Fishing fleet into the country after it found the workers, who are predominantly Indonesian, were victims of all 11 criteria for international labor standards. It is the first time in U.S. history that the government has banned products from an entire fleet of vessels, in this case, 32 ships.
US BLOCKS $50 MILLION IN IMPORTS MADE FROM FORCED LABOR AND MAY DO MORE UNDER BIDEN
“Forced labor is a form of modern-day slavery, characterized by horrific human rights abuses, those abuses include activities we commonly associate with slavery, such as physical and sexual violence and withholding of wages, but they also include other means of exploiting workers,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday. “These abuses violate international labor laws and universal human rights, victims of forced labor come from all walks of life, and are targeted across a number of industries, both domestically and internationally, criminal enterprises exploit workers through forced labor for one reason, profit.”
The ban on the company starts immediately, though it may not have a significant effect on imported seafood. In fiscal year 2020, the Dalian company imported $233,000 worth of seafood, but it has not attempted to import any since the start of fiscal year 2021, which began in October 2020, as a result of filing bankruptcy. DHS officials said they chose to impose this measure now because they have “seen indications of activity” that the company could reemerge.
Last year, Customs and Border Protection, the DHS agency tasked with inspecting all imported goods, announced 13 bans on imports from specific companies or governments that its investigators found were enslaving workers, physically abusing people, placing them in hazardous situations, and under-compensating them. As those bans were put into effect, CBP officers at ports of entry began seizing items, collecting $50 million worth of goods last year.
Nearly eight months into 2021, inspectors have seized 550 shipments worth $71.5 million of goods suspected to be made from forced labor from entering the United States. Five import blocks have been issued in 2021.
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The DHS has focused most of its efforts to block imports made from forced trade over the past year on Chinese companies based out of the Xinjiang region. The United Nations estimates 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in labor camps there. China is the world’s largest exporter of cotton, most of which comes from Xinjiang. China has described the camps as vocational training centers.
