By: Arthur Bodek

On October 31, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the addition of four companies to the section of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Consolidated Entity List, which identifies facilities and entities that source material from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) or from persons working with the XUAR government or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for purposes of the ‘‘poverty alleviation’’ program or the ‘‘pairing-assistance’’ program or any other government labor scheme that uses forced labor.

By statute, goods, mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the XUAR or produced by an entity on one of the UFLPA lists are subject to a rebuttable presumption that they were made using forced labor and are inadmissible.

The four new additions, effective November 1, 2024, are:

• Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (also known as Changji Yida Textile Co., Ltd.)*
• Esquel Group (also known as Esquel China Holdings Limited)
• Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd.
• Turpan Esquel Textile Co., Ltd.

Since the UFLPA was signed into law, nearly 80 entities have been added to the UFLPA Entity List involving various product sectors. The full list can be found here. Future additions to the list will be considered. A procedure is also available whereby parties may request their removal from the entity list.

Please do not hesitate to contact any of our attorneys for further information on the above or any other aspect of UFLPA compliance.

*The notice also removes this entity from the UFLPA category of entities in the XUAR that mine, produce, or manufacture wholly or in part any goods, wares, articles and merchandise with forced labor. However, as it is nonetheless on the Consolidated Entity List, it remains subject to the UFLPA’s rebuttable presumption.