Talking strategy: impact of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) on the global apparel industry, brands and retailers

Talking strategy: impact of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) on the global apparel industry, brands and retailers

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) came into effect on June 21, 2022, and, as a result, apparel supply chains will be subjected to unprecedented levels of scrutiny. The Act establishes a “rebuttable presumption” that all goods produced in Xinjiang, China, are made with forced labour and therefore companies wishing to import goods produced in Xinjiang into the USA must provide clear and convincing evidence that the goods were not manufactured with forced labour. Under the Act, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is entitled to detain, exclude or seize and forfeit shipments which it presumes are linked to Chinese forced labour. For many US companies, this could make the importation of goods from Xinjiang too fraught with legal and operational risks for it to be practical. In this report, Robin Anson examines the UFLPA and its implications for the global apparel industry, brands and retailers. Topics discussed include: the opportunity the Act presents for DNA and other traceability technology; the importance of mapping supply chains; and the availability of documents which help companies to comply with the Act, including “Operational Guidance for Importers”, produced by the CBP, and “Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced or Manufactured With Forced Labor in the People’s Republic of China”, produced by the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF). Also, he investigates new platforms and programmes which have been established in advance of the implementation of the Act, including Sourcemap’s Forced Labor Compliance Platform and ISS’s Modern Slavery Scorecard.