ESG Quick Guide: US: Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)

The UFLPA, which has been in force since December 2021, requires any company that imports any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”) in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), or produced by certain entities presumed to use or be affiliated with forced labour in the XUAR (the “UFLPA Entity List”), into the United States, to certify that those goods were not produced using forced labor.  

The UFLPA creates a rebuttable presumption that such goods are prohibited from import into the United States.  

To overcome the rebuttable presumption, importers must demonstrate their compliance with various requirements, including robust due diligence, supply chain tracing, and supply chain management. 

Mandatory

Pursuant to Sections 2 and 3, the Act applies to all importers into the U.S. of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise, which were mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, in Xinjiang, or produced by certain entities as identified on the UFLPA Entity List.

High priority sectors include aluminium, apparel, cotton, polyvinyl chloride, seafood, silica-based products (including polysilicon), and tomatoes (and downstream products), which require special attention in the enforcement plan developed by the U.S. Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF,” the U.S. Government interagency group tasked with developing the enforcement strategy for the UFLPA).  

The UFLPA Entity List and list of high priority sectors are regularly updated. 

The regime applies to merchandise imported on or after 21 June 2022.

Goods subject to the rebuttable presumption

Under the UFPLA, the following categories of goods are presumed to be the product of forced labor and therefore are barred from import into the United States: 

• goods wholly or in part mined, manufactured, or produced in the XUAR; and
• goods linked with companies on the UFLPA Entity List, which includes:
  • entities in XUAR that mine, produce, or manufacture wholly or in part any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise with forced labor;
  • entities working with the government of XUAR to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of XUAR;
  • entities that export products mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by entities described above from the PRC into the U.S.; and
  • facilities and entities, including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (“XPCC”), that source material from XUAR or from persons working with the government of XUAR or the XPCC for purposes of the “poverty alleviation” program or the “pairing-assistance” program or any other government-labor scheme that uses forced labor.

Overcoming the rebuttable presumption

To overcome the rebuttable presumption, an importer must demonstrate to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) that: 

• the goods were not produced wholly or in part by convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor;
• the importer has been responsive to GBP follow-up inquiries; and
• the importer has complied with the guidance described in section 2(d)(6) of the UFLPA (the “UFLPA Strategy”) (see below).

Guidance for compliance

Pursuant to the UFLPA Strategy, the CBP and other federal agencies involved in the FLETF have issued guidance that importers must follow to overcome the rebuttable presumption if their imports are within the scope of the UFLPA.  

Specifically, such importers must demonstrate their compliance with the following requirements: 

• Due diligence system - Key elements of an effective forced labor due diligence system will include: engagement with stakeholders and partners; assessment of risks and impacts; development of a code of conduct; communication and training across the supply chain; ongoing monitoring of compliance; remediation of violations; independent review of the due diligence system; and public reporting of performance.
• Supply chain tracing - Effective supply chain tracing includes: mapping the supply chain; demonstrating the chain of custody over goods (from raw materials to the final product); and assessing the risk of commingling with XUAR-originated inputs.
• Supply chain management - To effectively manage their supply chains, importers must conduct pre-contract vetting of suppliers for forced labor risks, include requirements addressing forced labor risks in contracts with their suppliers, and maintain information systems to manage supply chain data.
• Evidence to demonstrate that goods were not mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, in XUAR - Such evidence should include a detailed narrative of the supply chain’s evidence of the origin of every component in the goods, and scientific provenance testing (where relevant).
• Evidence to demonstrate that a good originating in the PRC was not mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, by forced labor - Such evidence should include: a complete list of all workers at an entity subject to the rebuttable presumption; evidence that none of the workers involved in production were recruited, transported, transferred, harbored, or received with the involvement of the PRC or XPCC governments or any entity on the UFLPA Entity List; and evidence that, where workers from Xinjiang are involved, they are working voluntarily. 

The UFLPA guidance is regularly updated, with the FLETP issuing updates in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.  

The CBP has also issued its own operational guidance for importers, with the first version issued in 2022, which applied only to the UFLPA.  On 9 June 2026, the CBP published superseding operational guidance, Forced Labor Enforcement Operational Guidance for Importers, which consolidates CBP’s enforcement framework under three legal authorities— the UFLPA, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, and the general forced labor import prohibition under 19 U.S.C. § 1307 — to create a single comprehensive resource for importers. 

The UFLPA supports the CBP’s enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1307) (the “Tariff Act”), which prohibits the importation into the U.S. of goods made wholly or in part by forced, convict, or indentured labor.  

Pursuant to the Tariff Act, if the CBP is presented with reasonable, not necessarily conclusive, evidence of forced labour, the CBP's Commissioner may issue a Withhold Release Order ("WRO").  Shipments subject to WROs may be subject to exclusion from entry. 

If the Commissioner obtains evidence sufficient to make a determination that the goods have been produced in violation of the ban on importation of goods made with forced labor, the Commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, will publish a formal finding.

The UFLPA is similar to the EU Forced Labour Regulation (“EUFLR”), (see our Quick Guide) but differs in key respects, including that the EUFLR applies to any goods being imported into, made available in or exported from the EU and there is no concept of a rebuttable presumption. However, in practice, the UFLPA will likely represent a useful source for those looking to comply with the EUFLR, both in terms of compliance actions and areas of risk on which to focus. 

The CBP has the authority to detain, seize, or exclude goods produced with forced labor, as well as to issue civil penalties against those who facilitate such imports. 

It can also recommend that suspected violators be referred for criminal investigations and federal prosecution, as appropriate. 

• UFLPA

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection UFLPA Guidance

• CBP Forced Labor Enforcement Operational Guidance for Importers

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection UFLPA Enforcement Statistics

• U.S. CBP Issues Comprehensive Forced Labor Enforcement Operational Guidance for Importers

• ESG Quick Guide: EU Forced Labour Regulation

• ESG Quick Guide: EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD / CS3D)

• EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: impact of CSDDD on non-EU companies

• Business and Human Rights collection page

• Other ESG Quick Guides