The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Trade issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) directing personnel at all U.S. ports of entry to block the products “based on information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labor, including convict labor.”
The order applies to all cotton goods produced by the XPCC, also known as the “Bingtuan,” and its subordinate and affiliated entities, as well as any products that are made in whole or in part with or derived from that cotton, such as apparel, garments, and textiles, the statement said.
Rights groups estimate that one in five cotton garments sold globally contains cotton or yarn from the XUAR and a July report by the End Uyghur Forced Labor campaign found that “It is virtually certain that many of these goods are tainted with forced labor.”
