CBP Issues New Uyghur Forced
Labor Prevention Act Region Alert

February 6, 2023

In a CSMS message CSMS #54872860 of January 26, 2023, CBP issued a Trade User Information Notice alerting the public that on March 18, 2023, it will deploy the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Region Alert enhancement to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).

This enhancement will provide an early notification to importers and brokers of goods that may have been produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang or XUAR) and, therefore, may be excluded from importation into the United States under the UFLPA.

This enhancement includes electronic data interchange (EDI) impacts. The UFLPA Region Alert will add three new validations to ACE in specific applications. The validations will be:

• The MFG/Exporter postal code will be a required field.
• Users will receive an error message if the postal code provided is not a valid Chinese postal code.
• Users will receive a warning message when a XUAR region postal code is provided.

The specific applications impacted will be:

• The Cargo Release (SE) application – only for the manufacturer (MF) party and only when the country is reported as The People’s Republic of China (CN) in the SE36 and/or SE56 record.
• The Manufacturer Identification Code ($I) application – when creating or updating a Manufacturer Identification Code with a city located in The People’s Republic of China (CN).

This enhancement will provide the ability to update an existing MID with a postal code.

What Do Trade Users Need to Do?

If the filer receives a warning message, they should notify the importer of the potential for the merchandise in question to be excluded under the rebuttable presumption established by UFLPA and how to respond to such an exclusion. For additional information see CBP’s Operational Guidance for Importers on page 9 or contact George Tuttle III of Tuttle Law at geo@tuttlelaw.com or (415) 986-8780. You can also contact George via our website or Linkedin profile.

The information in this article is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship with respect to any event or occurrence and may not be considered as such.

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