GAO Report Highlights Weaknesses in CBP’s Enforcement of Ban on Goods Produced through Slave and Child Labor
On Thursday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report following its year-long review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) enforcement of a law – section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1337) – that prohibits the importation of goods produced through convict, forced, slave, or child labor. The Committee on Natural Resource of […]
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Southern Shrimp Alliance Asks the Department of Labor to Close Loopholes in the Identification of Seafood Produced through Slave Labor
Yesterday, in response to a request for information and invitation to comment from the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Department of Labor (“ILAB”), the Southern Shrimp Alliance asked the agency to close loopholes that exempt entire categories of seafood from being identified as produced through child or forced labor. Since 2009, ILAB has published a list of goods produced through […]
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Southern Shrimp Alliance Lauds U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Issuance of Five New Withhold Release Orders
On Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued five Withhold Release Orders (WRO) on a variety of goods imported into the United States that are produced through forced or prison labor. The WRO was issued pursuant to CBP’s authority under 19 U.S.C. 1307, banning the importation of goods produced through forced or child labor. CBP issued WROs covering: (1) garments […]
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Imported Shrimp May Use Human Trafficking
Shrimp consumed in the United States may have been produced using human trafficking according to the U.S. Department of Labor and human rights organizations. Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes including forced labor and sex. Documented examples of human trafficking in the shrimp supply chain include individuals held at sea to catch […]
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World Day Against Child Labor Includes Shrimp
The U.S. government, other governments, and human rights organizations have all documented labor abuses in the shrimp supply chain in several countries. On June 12, the Southern Shrimp Alliance is promoting resources to help shrimp purchasers avoid sourcing from supply chains that use forced labor, child labor, and forced child labor as part of World Day Against Child Labor. Resources […]
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection Issues Withhold Release Order Barring Imports from Fishing Vessel
In the context of the $6.5 billion worth of shrimp imported into the United States from all over the world in 2017, the $4.6 million in shrimp we imported from Myanmar (Burma) that year was just a small drop in a huge ocean. But $4.6 million worth of shrimp is still a lot of shrimp. And it was a substantial jump up […]
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SSA Condemns Criminal Defamation Case Filed Against Prominent Labor Activist in Thailand
In a letter sent today to U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca of the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Southern Shrimp Alliance expressed grave concern regarding the recently filed criminal defamation charges in Thailand against Andy Hall, a British citizen resident in Thailand. According to published reports, Mr. Hall, a long-time advocate of humane […]
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Why Is the FDA Inspecting So Little Seafood from Vietnam?
After refusing only four entry lines of Vietnamese seafood in September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported refusing thirteen entry lines of Vietnamese seafood in October. Nine of the thirteen Vietnamese seafood refusals were for entry lines of shrimp; six of these were for the presence of banned veterinary drug residues. The shrimp refused for veterinary drug contamination […]
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Know Your Supplier (Continued): Eliminating Child and Forced Labor from the Shrimp Supply Chain Update II
On Tuesday, CNN’s Freedom Project posted an article and interview with anti-trafficking expert Siddharth Kara on the abuse of bonded labor in the Bangladeshi shrimp industry. To do full justice to the piece, please watch the video and read the article in full at the link below. Mr. Kara’s investigation found labor abuse at every stage of shrimp production in […]
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Know Your Supplier (Continued): Eliminating Child and Forced Labor from the Shrimp Supply Chain Update
The Bangkok Post printed an editorial today titled “Dirty Hands of Shrimp Trade” calling on the Thai shrimp industry in Samut Sakhon to clean up abusive labor practices. I encourage you to read the full editorial, which can be accessed through the link below. Three sentences should jump out at you in the editorial: There is no use denying that […]