WASHINGTON DC - The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced five Withhold Release Orders (WRO) blocking imports from the Xinjiang region of China over forced labour fears.
The WROs direct CBP officers at all ports to withhold the release of goods including cotton produced by Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co, which was dropped as a Better Cotton Initiative partner last year, and apparel manufactured by Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Co and Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co.
CBP said it suspected the products subject to the WROs were produced with forced labour in Xinjiang where up to 1.8 million Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic groups are reportedly being held in the largest mass incarceration since World War II.
