In this episode of Hidden Traffic Podcast, Richard Mojica, Practice Lead of Customs and Import Trade at Miller & Chevalier, join host Gwen Hassan to discuss the overlap between customs and human trafficking prevention and how they came to intersect. Richard helps companies comply with the legal requirements of importing products into the United States and specializes in business and human rights.
Though importing goods made with forced labor See more +
In this episode of Hidden Traffic Podcast, Richard Mojica, Practice Lead of Customs and Import Trade at Miller & Chevalier, join host Gwen Hassan to discuss the overlap between customs and human trafficking prevention and how they came to intersect. Richard helps companies comply with the legal requirements of importing products into the United States and specializes in business and human rights.
Though importing goods made with forced labor is prohibited by law, a loophole allowed it for decades. The loophole was that if a good was not sufficiently produced in the US to meet consumptive demand, it could be imported, which permitted the importation of goods made with forced labor that fulfilled those requirements. This was made worse by the lack of oversight from customs, likely driven by a focus on acquiring necessary goods.
The loophole of consumptive demand was plugged in 2016 by passing a new law, and the US Customs and Border Protection was charged with its enforcement. The CBP’s tool for that is the withhold-release order – an instruction that detains merchandise suspected of being made with forced labor at the ports of entry. See less -
