Notice Seeking Public Comments on Methods To Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured With Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China, Especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Into the United States, 3567-3570 [2022-01444]
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 15 / Monday, January 24, 2022 / Notices
Name of Committee: Oncology 2—
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Date: February 24–25, 2022.
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Dated: January 18, 2022.
Tyeshia M. Roberson-Curtis,
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[FR Doc. 2022–01243 Filed 1–21–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
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National Institutes of Health
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[FR Doc. 2022–01201 Filed 1–21–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
[Docket No. DHS–2022–0001]
[FR Doc. 2022–01240 Filed 1–21–22; 8:45 am]
Notice Seeking Public Comments on
Methods To Prevent the Importation of
Goods Mined, Produced, or
Manufactured With Forced Labor in the
People’s Republic of China, Especially
in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region, Into the United States
BILLING CODE 4140–01–P
AGENCY:
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
SUMMARY:
Dated: January 18, 2022.
Tyeshia M. Roberson-Curtis,
Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory
Committee Policy.
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Dental &
Craniofacial Research; Notice of
Closed Meeting
Pursuant to section 10(d) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as
amended, notice is hereby given of the
following meeting.
The meeting will be closed to the
public in accordance with the
provisions set forth in sections
552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C.,
as amended. The grant applications and
the discussions could disclose
confidential trade secrets or commercial
property such as patentable material,
and personal information concerning
individuals associated with the grant
applications, the disclosure of which
would constitute a clearly unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy.
Name of Committee: National Institute of
Dental and Craniofacial Research Special
Emphasis Panel; Clinical Studies.
Date: February 23, 2022.
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Agenda: To review and evaluate grant
applications and/or proposals.
Place: National Institute of Dental and
Craniofacial Research, 6701 Democracy
Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892 (Virtual
Meeting).
Contact Person: Yun Mei, MD Scientific
Review Officer, Scientific Review Branch,
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Department of Homeland
Security.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, on behalf of the
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force
(FLETF), is seeking comments from the
public, as required by the Uyghur
Forced Labor Prevention Act, on how
best to ensure that goods, wares,
articles, and merchandise mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People’s
Republic of China are not imported into
the United States. Such goods, wares,
articles and merchandise include those
mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor by
Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans,
and members of other persecuted groups
in the People’s Republic of China, and
especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region. After receiving
comments, the FLETF will conduct a
public hearing and develop a strategy
for supporting enforcement of section
307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended.
Comments must be received on
or before March 10, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
EST.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this notice, identified by Docket No.
DHS–2022–0001, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
website instructions for submitting
comments.
DATES:
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 15 / Monday, January 24, 2022 / Notices
Comments submitted in a manner
other than those discussed in this
Notice will not be considered by the
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force
(FLETF). Please note that the FLETF
cannot accept any comments that are
hand-delivered or couriered. In
addition, the FLETF cannot accept
comments contained on any form of
digital media storage devices, such as
CDs/DVDs and USB drives. The FLETF
is also not accepting mailed comments
at this time. If you cannot submit your
comment by using https://
www.regulations.gov, please contact
DHS Trade Policy at
FLETF.PUBLIC.COMMENTS@
hq.dhs.gov or 202–938–6365 for
alternate instructions.
For additional instructions regarding
submitting comments, see section I of
this notice, ‘‘Submission Instructions for
Public Comments.’’
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cynthia Echeverria, Acting Director of
Trade Policy, U.S. Department of
Homeland Security at 202–938–6365 or
at FLETF.PUBLIC.COMMENTS@
hq.dhs.gov.
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Submission Instructions for Public
Comments
The FLETF invites all interested
parties to provide written data, views,
and comments on all aspects of this
notice.
Instructions: If you submit a
comment, you must include the task
force name (the Forced Labor
Enforcement Task Force) and DHS
Docket No. DHS–2022–001. All
comments or materials submitted in the
manner described above will be posted,
without change, to the Federal
eRulemaking portal at https://
www.regulations.gov and will include
any personal information you provide.
You may wish to consider limiting the
amount of personal information that you
provide in any voluntary public
comment submission to the FLETF.
DHS may withhold from public view
information provided in comments that
it determines may impact the privacy of
an individual or is offensive. For
additional information, please read the
Privacy Notice available at https://
www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice.
Confidential Business Information
Submissions: To submit a public
comment that includes confidential
business information, you must follow
these instructions. If you do not follow
these instructions, your comment may
be posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov. For purposes of
this notice, confidential business
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information is protected information
which includes business confidential
information, trade secrets, or
commercial or financial information
that is confidential or privileged;
information that, if disclosed, would
invade another individual’s personal
privacy; and other Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) exemptionqualifying information.
To submit any confidential business
information to the FLETF, please submit
your comment, with the confidential
business information included, by email
to FLETF.PUBLIC.COMMENTS@
hq.dhs.gov. Please include a heading or
cover note that states ‘‘THIS
DOCUMENT CONTAINS
CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
INFORMATION.’’ Please clearly
identify the portions of the emailed
comment which constitute protected
information. The FLETF will review the
claimed confidential business
information in its consideration of
comments.
If you submit a confidential business
information submission by email, please
also submit a public version of the
comment with identified confidential
information removed. The FLETF will
place the public version of the comment
in the docket at https://
www.regulations.gov. Public comments
with confidential information submitted
only by email, and not in conjunction
with a public submission via https://
www.regulations.gov may not be
reviewed by the FLETF.
Docket: For access to the docket to
view comments, go to https://
www.regulations.gov/and search for
DHS Docket No. DHS–2022–0001. You
may also sign up for email alerts on the
online docket to be notified when
comments are posted.
II. Background
A. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task
Force
Pursuant to section 307 of the Tariff
Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C.
1307), ‘‘[a]ll goods, wares, articles, and
merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part in any
foreign country by convict labor or/and
forced labor or/and indentured labor
under penal sanctions shall not be
entitled to entry at any of the ports of
the United States, and the importation
thereof is hereby prohibited.’’ Under
this section, the term ‘‘forced labor’’
includes ‘‘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
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voluntarily’’ and includes forced or
indentured child labor.
Section 741 of the United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement
Implementation Act established the
FLETF to monitor United States
enforcement of the prohibition under
section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 1307). See 19 U.S.C.
4681. Pursuant to DHS Delegation Order
No. 23034, the DHS Under Secretary for
Strategy, Policy, and Plans serves as
Chair of the FLETF, an interagency task
force that includes the Department of
Homeland Security, the Office of the
U.S. Trade Representative, and the
Departments of Labor, State, Justice, the
Treasury and Commerce.1 See 19 U.S.C.
4681; Executive Order 13923 (May 15,
2020). The Chair may invite other
federal departments or agencies to
participate as members or observers. See
Executive Order 13923 (May 15, 2020).
The FLETF must meet quarterly to
discuss active Withhold Release Orders,
ongoing investigations, petitions
received, enforcement priorities, and
other relevant issues with respect to
enforcing the prohibition under section
307. See 19 U.S.C. 4681(b). The FLETF
must also submit biannual reports to
appropriate congressional committees.
See 19 U.S.C. 4683. These reports must
include DHS enforcement priorities for
and activities taken pursuant to section
307; the number of times merchandise
was denied entry pursuant to the
prohibition within the preceding 180
days and a description of the
merchandise denied entry; an
enforcement plan regarding goods
described under recent Department of
Labor (DOL) reports on international
child labor and forced labor; and any
other information the FLETF considers
relevant with respect to monitoring and
enforcing compliance under section 307
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
See 19 U.S.C. 4683.
B. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act:
Preventing Goods Made With Forced
Labor From the People’s Republic of
China From Being Imported Into the
United States
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention
Act (Pub. L. 117–78) (‘‘UFLPA’’)
requires, among other things, that the
FLETF, in consultation with the
Secretary of Commerce and the Director
of National Intelligence, develop a
strategy for supporting enforcement of
1 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as
the FLETF Chair, has the authority to invite
representatives from other executive departments
and agencies, as appropriate. See Executive Order
13923 (May 15, 2020). The U.S. Department of
Commerce is a member of the FLETF as invited by
the Chair.
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 15 / Monday, January 24, 2022 / Notices
section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 1307), to prevent
the importation into the United States of
goods, wares, articles and merchandise
mined, produced or manufactured
wholly or in part by forced labor in the
People’s Republic of China, and
especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region. In developing and
presenting this strategy, the UFLPA
requires that the FLETF:
• Publish this notice in the Federal
Register to solicit public comments, for
not less than 45 days, on how best to
ensure that goods, wares, articles and
merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the People’s Republic of
China, including by Uyghurs, Kazakhs,
Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and members of other
persecuted groups in the People’s
Republic of China, and especially in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,
are not imported into the United States.
See Public Law 117–78, § 2(a);
• Not later than 45 days after the
close of the comment period, conduct a
public hearing inviting witnesses to
testify with respect to the use of forced
labor in the People’s Republic of China
and potential measures to prevent the
importation into the United States of
goods, wares, articles and merchandise
mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor in
the People’s Republic of China. See
Public Law 117–78, 2(b); and
• Not later than 180 days after the
enactment of the UFLPA, in
consultation with the Secretary of
Commerce and the Director of National
Intelligence, submit to the appropriate
congressional committees an initial
report that includes the strategy for
supporting enforcement of section 307
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended,
to prevent the importation into the
United States of goods, wares, articles
and merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the People’s Republic of
China. Updates to the strategy shall be
submitted to the appropriate
congressional committees on an annual
basis. See Public Law 117–78, §§ 2(c),
(e).
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III. Request for Public Comments
A. Importance of Public Comments
Public comments will be vital to
robust implementation of the UFLPA.
Comments from all relevant
stakeholders are encouraged to ensure
that the FLETF accounts for a diverse
and wide range of perspectives in
developing a strategy to prevent the
importation of goods, wares, articles and
merchandise mined, produced, or
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manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the People’s Republic of
China.
Comments should be detailed and
provide sufficient information to
understand and assess concerns related
to the risk of importing goods, wares,
articles and merchandise mined,
produced, or manufactured from
specific regions, sectors, facilities, and
entities in the People’s Republic of
China. Proposed approaches and
measures to implement the UFLPA
should be as detailed as practicable.
B. List of Questions for Commenters
To assist in the development of
comments, members of the public may
consider the following non-exhaustive
list of questions. This list is not
intended to restrict the issues that
commenters may address.
1. What are the risks of importing
goods, wares, articles and merchandise
mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor in
the People’s Republic of China,
including from the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region or made by
Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or
members of other persecuted groups in
any other part of the People’s Republic
of China?
2. To the extent feasible, as part of the
assessment of risks, what mechanisms,
including the potential involvement in
supply chains of entities that may use
forced labor, could lead to the
importation into the United States from
the People’s Republic of China,
including through third countries, of
goods, wares, articles and merchandise
mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor?
3. What procedures can be
implemented or improved to reduce the
threats identified in Question 2?
4. What forms does the use of forced
labor take in the People’s Republic of
China and the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region? For example, what
‘‘pairing assistance’’ and ‘‘poverty
alleviation’’ or other government labor
schemes exist in the People’s Republic
of China that include the forced labor of
Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or
members of other persecuted groups
outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region? What similar
programs exist in which work or
services are extracted from Uyghurs,
Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members
of other persecuted groups under the
threat of penalty or for which they have
not offered themselves voluntarily?
5. What goods are mined, produced,
or manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region or by entities that
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3569
work with the government of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to
recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or
receive forced labor?
6. In addition to cotton, tomatoes, and
polysilicon, are there any other sectors
which should be high-priority for
enforcement?
7. What unique characteristics of such
high-priority sector supply chains,
including cotton, tomato, and/or the
polysilicon supply chains, need to be
considered in developing measures to
prevent the importation of goods mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People’s
Republic of China?
8. How can the United States identify
additional entities that export products
that are mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region or by entities that
work with the government of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to
recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or
receive forced labor?
9. How can the United States most
effectively enforce the UFLPA against
entities whose goods, wares, articles, or
merchandise are made wholly or in part
with forced labor in the People’s
Republic of China and imported into the
United States?
10. What efforts, initiatives, and tools
and technologies should be adopted to
ensure that U.S. Customs and Border
Protection can accurately identify and
trace goods entered at any U.S. ports in
violation of section 307 of the Tariff Act
of 1930, as amended?
11. What due diligence, effective
supply chain tracing, and supply chain
management measures can importers
leverage to ensure that they do not
import any goods mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor from the People’s Republic
of China, especially from the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region?
12. What type, nature, and extent of
evidence can companies provide to
reasonably demonstrate that goods
originating in the People’s Republic of
China were not mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region?
13. What tools could provide greater
clarity to companies on how to ensure
upcoming importations from the
People’s Republic of China were not
mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor in
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region? To what extent is there a need
for a common set of supply chain
traceability and verification standards,
through a widely endorsed protocol,
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 15 / Monday, January 24, 2022 / Notices
and what current government or private
sector infrastructure exists to support
such a protocol?
14. What type, nature, and extent of
evidence can demonstrate that goods
originating in the People’s Republic of
China, including goods detained or
seized pursuant to section 307 of the
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, were not
mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor?
15. What measures can be taken to
trace the origin of goods, offer greater
supply chain transparency, and identify
third-country supply chain routes for
goods mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the People’s Republic of
China?
16. How can the U.S. Government
coordinate and collaborate on an
ongoing basis with appropriate
nongovernmental organizations and
private sector entities to implement and
update the strategy that the FLETF will
produce pursuant to the UFLPA?
17. How can the U.S. Government
improve coordination with
nongovernmental organizations and the
private sector to combat forced labor in
supply chains, and how can these serve
as a model to support implementation of
the UFLPA?
18. Is there any additional
information the FLETF should consider
related to how best to implement the
UFLPA, including other measures for
ensuring that goods mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor do not enter the United
States?
Robert Silvers,
Under Secretary, Office of Strategy, Policy,
and Plans.
[FR Doc. 2022–01444 Filed 1–20–22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9110–9M–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–6284–N–01]
Implementation of the Fostering Stable
Housing Opportunities Amendments
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
(PIH), Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD).
ACTION: Notice.
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AGENCY:
This notice implements and
provides guidance on the provisions of
the Fostering Stable Housing
Opportunities (FSHO) amendments that
are effective through the publication of
this notice. This notice also identifies
the provisions of FSHO that were
SUMMARY:
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18:11 Jan 21, 2022
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effective upon enactment (i.e.,
December 27, 2020) or otherwise
already in effect and advises of actions
that may or must be taken now to
comply with the changes. Additionally,
this notice identifies the provisions of
FSHO that require further action from
HUD to be implemented. Through this
notice, HUD also seeks public comment
on certain provisions of FSHO.
However, HUD welcomes public
comment on any of this notice’s
provisions.
DATES:
Effective date of amendments in
Section III of this notice: April 25, 2022.
Comment due date: March 25, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit comments regarding
this document. All communications
must refer to the above docket number
and title. There are two methods for
submitting public comments.
1. Submission of Comments by Mail.
Comments may be submitted by mail to
the Regulations Division, Office of
General Counsel, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, 451
7th Street SW, Room 10276,
Washington, DC 20410–0500.
2. Electronic Submission of
Comments. Interested persons may
submit comments electronically through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly
encourages commenters to submit
comments electronically. Electronic
submission of comments allows the
commenter maximum time to prepare
and submit a comment, ensures timely
receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to
make comments immediately available
to the public. Comments submitted
electronically through the
www.regulations.gov website can be
viewed by other commenters and
interested members of the public.
Commenters should follow the
instructions provided on that site to
submit comments electronically.
No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile
(fax) comments are not acceptable.
Public Inspection of Public
Comments. All properly submitted
comments and communications
submitted to HUD will be available for
public inspection and copying between
8 a.m. and 5 p.m., weekdays, at the
above address. Due to security measures
at the HUD Headquarters building, an
advance appointment to review the
public comments must be scheduled by
calling the Regulations Division at 202–
708–3055 (this is not a toll-free
number). Copies of all comments
submitted are available for inspection
and downloading at
www.regulations.gov.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ryan E. Jones, Director, Housing
Voucher Management and Operations
Division, Department of Housing and
Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street
SW, Room 4216, Washington, DC 20410,
telephone number (202) 402–2677. (This
is not a toll-free number.) HUD
encourages submission of questions
about this document be sent to: FYI@
hud.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Fostering Stable Housing
Opportunities (FSHO) amendments,
enacted as section 103 of division Q of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2021 on December 27, 2020 (Pub. L.
116–260), made changes to the
assistance provided to eligible youth
pursuant to the Family Unification
Program (FUP) authorized under
Section 8(x) of the U.S. Housing Act of
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)). FSHO
provides an extension of the assistance
provided to eligible youth for up to 24
months beyond the 36-month time limit
of assistance if the youth is participating
in a Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS)
program under section 23 of the U.S.
Housing Act of 1937 and for youth who
are unable to enroll in an FSS program
who engaged in education, workforce
development, or employment activities
for at least 9 months of the 12-month
period preceding the extension. FSHO
also provides an extension of assistance
for up to 24 months beyond the 36month time limit of assistance for
eligible youth who meet one of three
statutory exceptions.
FUP provides Housing Choice
Vouchers (HCVs) to two different
populations: (1) Families for whom the
lack of adequate housing is a primary
factor in the imminent placement of the
family’s child or children in out-ofhome care or in the delay of the
discharge of the child or children to the
family from out-of-home care (‘‘FUP
families’’), and (2) eligible youth who
are at least 18 years of age and not more
than 24 years of age who have left foster
care, or will leave foster care within 90
days, in accordance with a transition
plan described in section 475(5)(H) of
the Social Security Act, and are
homeless or at risk of becoming
homeless at age 16 or older (‘‘FUP
youth’’).
In 2019, HUD established the Foster
Youth to Independence (FYI) initiative.
Through Notice PIH 2019–20, HUD
made available Tenant Protection
Vouchers (TPVs) targeted to youth
eligible under FUP, subject to
availability. These vouchers are referred
E:\FR\FM\24JAN1.SGM
24JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 15 (Monday, January 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3567-3570]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01444]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[Docket No. DHS-2022-0001]
Notice Seeking Public Comments on Methods To Prevent the
Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured With Forced Labor
in the People's Republic of China, Especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, Into the United States
AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on behalf of the
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), is seeking comments from
the public, as required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, on
how best to ensure that goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the
People's Republic of China are not imported into the United States.
Such goods, wares, articles and merchandise include those mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor by
Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and members of other persecuted
groups in the People's Republic of China, and especially in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. After receiving comments, the FLETF
will conduct a public hearing and develop a strategy for supporting
enforcement of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 10, 2022 at 11:59
p.m. EST.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this notice, identified by Docket
No. DHS-2022-0001, through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the website instructions for submitting
comments.
[[Page 3568]]
Comments submitted in a manner other than those discussed in this
Notice will not be considered by the Forced Labor Enforcement Task
Force (FLETF). Please note that the FLETF cannot accept any comments
that are hand-delivered or couriered. In addition, the FLETF cannot
accept comments contained on any form of digital media storage devices,
such as CDs/DVDs and USB drives. The FLETF is also not accepting mailed
comments at this time. If you cannot submit your comment by using
https://www.regulations.gov, please contact DHS Trade Policy at
[email protected] or 202-938-6365 for alternate
instructions.
For additional instructions regarding submitting comments, see
section I of this notice, ``Submission Instructions for Public
Comments.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Echeverria, Acting Director of
Trade Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security at 202-938-6365 or
at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Submission Instructions for Public Comments
The FLETF invites all interested parties to provide written data,
views, and comments on all aspects of this notice.
Instructions: If you submit a comment, you must include the task
force name (the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force) and DHS Docket No.
DHS-2022-001. All comments or materials submitted in the manner
described above will be posted, without change, to the Federal
eRulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov and will include any
personal information you provide. You may wish to consider limiting the
amount of personal information that you provide in any voluntary public
comment submission to the FLETF. DHS may withhold from public view
information provided in comments that it determines may impact the
privacy of an individual or is offensive. For additional information,
please read the Privacy Notice available at https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice.
Confidential Business Information Submissions: To submit a public
comment that includes confidential business information, you must
follow these instructions. If you do not follow these instructions,
your comment may be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov. For purposes of this notice, confidential business
information is protected information which includes business
confidential information, trade secrets, or commercial or financial
information that is confidential or privileged; information that, if
disclosed, would invade another individual's personal privacy; and
other Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption-qualifying
information.
To submit any confidential business information to the FLETF,
please submit your comment, with the confidential business information
included, by email to [email protected]. Please include
a heading or cover note that states ``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS
CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION.'' Please clearly identify the
portions of the emailed comment which constitute protected information.
The FLETF will review the claimed confidential business information in
its consideration of comments.
If you submit a confidential business information submission by
email, please also submit a public version of the comment with
identified confidential information removed. The FLETF will place the
public version of the comment in the docket at https://www.regulations.gov. Public comments with confidential information
submitted only by email, and not in conjunction with a public
submission via https://www.regulations.gov may not be reviewed by the
FLETF.
Docket: For access to the docket to view comments, go to https://www.regulations.gov/and search for DHS Docket No. DHS-2022-0001. You
may also sign up for email alerts on the online docket to be notified
when comments are posted.
II. Background
A. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force
Pursuant to section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19
U.S.C. 1307), ``[a]ll goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined,
produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in any foreign country by
convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal
sanctions shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the
United States, and the importation thereof is hereby prohibited.''
Under this section, the term ``forced labor'' includes ``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'' and includes forced or indentured child labor.
Section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Implementation Act established the FLETF to monitor United States
enforcement of the prohibition under section 307 of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1307). See 19 U.S.C. 4681. Pursuant to DHS
Delegation Order No. 23034, the DHS Under Secretary for Strategy,
Policy, and Plans serves as Chair of the FLETF, an interagency task
force that includes the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of
the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Departments of Labor, State,
Justice, the Treasury and Commerce.\1\ See 19 U.S.C. 4681; Executive
Order 13923 (May 15, 2020). The Chair may invite other federal
departments or agencies to participate as members or observers. See
Executive Order 13923 (May 15, 2020).
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\1\ The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as the FLETF
Chair, has the authority to invite representatives from other
executive departments and agencies, as appropriate. See Executive
Order 13923 (May 15, 2020). The U.S. Department of Commerce is a
member of the FLETF as invited by the Chair.
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The FLETF must meet quarterly to discuss active Withhold Release
Orders, ongoing investigations, petitions received, enforcement
priorities, and other relevant issues with respect to enforcing the
prohibition under section 307. See 19 U.S.C. 4681(b). The FLETF must
also submit biannual reports to appropriate congressional committees.
See 19 U.S.C. 4683. These reports must include DHS enforcement
priorities for and activities taken pursuant to section 307; the number
of times merchandise was denied entry pursuant to the prohibition
within the preceding 180 days and a description of the merchandise
denied entry; an enforcement plan regarding goods described under
recent Department of Labor (DOL) reports on international child labor
and forced labor; and any other information the FLETF considers
relevant with respect to monitoring and enforcing compliance under
section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. See 19 U.S.C. 4683.
B. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act: Preventing Goods Made With
Forced Labor From the People's Republic of China From Being Imported
Into the United States
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (Pub. L. 117-78) (``UFLPA'')
requires, among other things, that the FLETF, in consultation with the
Secretary of Commerce and the Director of National Intelligence,
develop a strategy for supporting enforcement of
[[Page 3569]]
section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1307), to
prevent the importation into the United States of goods, wares,
articles and merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in
part by forced labor in the People's Republic of China, and especially
in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In developing and presenting
this strategy, the UFLPA requires that the FLETF:
Publish this notice in the Federal Register to solicit
public comments, for not less than 45 days, on how best to ensure that
goods, wares, articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured
wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China,
including by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and members of other
persecuted groups in the People's Republic of China, and especially in
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, are not imported into the United
States. See Public Law 117-78, Sec. 2(a);
Not later than 45 days after the close of the comment
period, conduct a public hearing inviting witnesses to testify with
respect to the use of forced labor in the People's Republic of China
and potential measures to prevent the importation into the United
States of goods, wares, articles and merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's
Republic of China. See Public Law 117-78, 2(b); and
Not later than 180 days after the enactment of the UFLPA,
in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of
National Intelligence, submit to the appropriate congressional
committees an initial report that includes the strategy for supporting
enforcement of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, to
prevent the importation into the United States of goods, wares,
articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China. Updates to
the strategy shall be submitted to the appropriate congressional
committees on an annual basis. See Public Law 117-78, Sec. Sec. 2(c),
(e).
III. Request for Public Comments
A. Importance of Public Comments
Public comments will be vital to robust implementation of the
UFLPA. Comments from all relevant stakeholders are encouraged to ensure
that the FLETF accounts for a diverse and wide range of perspectives in
developing a strategy to prevent the importation of goods, wares,
articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China.
Comments should be detailed and provide sufficient information to
understand and assess concerns related to the risk of importing goods,
wares, articles and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured from
specific regions, sectors, facilities, and entities in the People's
Republic of China. Proposed approaches and measures to implement the
UFLPA should be as detailed as practicable.
B. List of Questions for Commenters
To assist in the development of comments, members of the public may
consider the following non-exhaustive list of questions. This list is
not intended to restrict the issues that commenters may address.
1. What are the risks of importing goods, wares, articles and
merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with
forced labor in the People's Republic of China, including from the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz,
Tibetans, or members of other persecuted groups in any other part of
the People's Republic of China?
2. To the extent feasible, as part of the assessment of risks, what
mechanisms, including the potential involvement in supply chains of
entities that may use forced labor, could lead to the importation into
the United States from the People's Republic of China, including
through third countries, of goods, wares, articles and merchandise
mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor?
3. What procedures can be implemented or improved to reduce the
threats identified in Question 2?
4. What forms does the use of forced labor take in the People's
Republic of China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region? For
example, what ``pairing assistance'' and ``poverty alleviation'' or
other government labor schemes exist in the People's Republic of China
that include the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or
members of other persecuted groups outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region? What similar programs exist in which work or
services are extracted from Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or
members of other persecuted groups under the threat of penalty or for
which they have not offered themselves voluntarily?
5. What goods are mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or by
entities that work with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive
forced labor?
6. In addition to cotton, tomatoes, and polysilicon, are there any
other sectors which should be high-priority for enforcement?
7. What unique characteristics of such high-priority sector supply
chains, including cotton, tomato, and/or the polysilicon supply chains,
need to be considered in developing measures to prevent the importation
of goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced
labor in the People's Republic of China?
8. How can the United States identify additional entities that
export products that are mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or by
entities that work with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive
forced labor?
9. How can the United States most effectively enforce the UFLPA
against entities whose goods, wares, articles, or merchandise are made
wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China
and imported into the United States?
10. What efforts, initiatives, and tools and technologies should be
adopted to ensure that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can
accurately identify and trace goods entered at any U.S. ports in
violation of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended?
11. What due diligence, effective supply chain tracing, and supply
chain management measures can importers leverage to ensure that they do
not import any goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part
with forced labor from the People's Republic of China, especially from
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region?
12. What type, nature, and extent of evidence can companies provide
to reasonably demonstrate that goods originating in the People's
Republic of China were not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or
in part with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region?
13. What tools could provide greater clarity to companies on how to
ensure upcoming importations from the People's Republic of China were
not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced
labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region? To what extent is there
a need for a common set of supply chain traceability and verification
standards, through a widely endorsed protocol,
[[Page 3570]]
and what current government or private sector infrastructure exists to
support such a protocol?
14. What type, nature, and extent of evidence can demonstrate that
goods originating in the People's Republic of China, including goods
detained or seized pursuant to section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930,
as amended, were not mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part
with forced labor?
15. What measures can be taken to trace the origin of goods, offer
greater supply chain transparency, and identify third-country supply
chain routes for goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China?
16. How can the U.S. Government coordinate and collaborate on an
ongoing basis with appropriate nongovernmental organizations and
private sector entities to implement and update the strategy that the
FLETF will produce pursuant to the UFLPA?
17. How can the U.S. Government improve coordination with
nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to combat forced
labor in supply chains, and how can these serve as a model to support
implementation of the UFLPA?
18. Is there any additional information the FLETF should consider
related to how best to implement the UFLPA, including other measures
for ensuring that goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in
part with forced labor do not enter the United States?
Robert Silvers,
Under Secretary, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans.
[FR Doc. 2022-01444 Filed 1-20-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9110-9M-P
