US import ban bill attacks forced labour

Shipments derived from slave labour, from fish to electronics and cocoa, will be kept out of the country under the new law that closes a legal loophole that allowed import of goods derived from forced labour if US demand exceeded domestic production, officials said.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee told Matichon Online that  the new law would not affect Thai fishery products since it did not specifically mention Thailand, while the government continued solving the problem of forced labour.
The measure closing the loophole in the US Tariff Act of 1930 was included in a wider trade-enforcement bill, which Obama signed into law at the White House in Washington.
“The mere deterrent effect of closing this loophole is a great step forward,” Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of US customs and border protection, told reporters on a conference call.
“We’re going to make sure that is heavily noted throughout the world.”
The new law could bar billions of dollars’ worth of goods produced by forced labour, said Annick Febrey, senior associate at the advocacy group Human Rights First.
“It’s a really big deal,” she said. “While we as a country have said that we are against slavery, we’ve had this little-known rule in the Tariff Act.”
The International Labour Organisation estimates that 20.9 million people are victims of forced labour globally.
The illegal industry is estimated to generate US$150 billion (Bt5.3 trillion) in profits per year, the agency has said.