[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17956-17957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9875]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Customs Service
[T.D. 96-34]
Determination That Merchandise Imported From the People's
Republic of China Is Produced Using Convict, Forced, or Indentured
Labor by the Tianjin Malleable Iron Factory
AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.
ACTION: Determination that Subject Merchandise is Prohibited by 19
U.S.C. 1307 From Importation into the United States.
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SUMMARY: This document advises that the Commissioner of Customs, with
the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, has determined that
certain iron pipe fittings, which are being, or are likely to be
imported into the United States from the People's Republic of China
(PRC), are being manufactured with the use of convict, forced, or
indentured labor by the Tianjin Malleable Iron Factory, Tianjin
Municipality, People's Republic of China. This facility may also be
known as the Tianjin Tongbao Fittings Company, the Tianjin NO. 2
Malleable Iron Plant, the Tianjin Secondary Mugging Factory, or the
Tianjin NO. 2 Prison. The Commissioner of Customs, pursuant to 19 CFR
12.42(f), has determined, on the basis of a Customs investigation, that
such merchandise is being, or is likely to be, imported into the United
States in violation of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended
(19 U.S.C. 1307), unless, pursuant to 19 CFR 12.42(g), 12.43, and
12.44, the importer establishes by satisfactory evidence that the
merchandise was not mined, produced,or manufactured in any part with
the use of a class of labor specified herein.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This determination shall take effect on or before April
29, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Buford E. Gates, Senior Special Agent,
Office of Investigations, Fraud Investigations Division, Headquarters,
U.S. Customs Service, 1301 Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20229,
202-927-2195.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 307, Tariff Act of 1930 as amended, (19 U.S.C. 1307)
provides in pertinent part that:
All goods, wares, articles, and merchandise, mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly, or in part, in any foreign country by convict
labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal
sanctions, shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the
United States, and the importation thereof is hereby prohibited, and
the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary for the enforcement
of this provision.
Forced labor is defined as ``All work or service which is
exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its
nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself
voluntarily.''
Pursuant to section 307, the Secretary of the Treasury promulgated
implementing regulations found at 19 CFR 12.42, et seq. These
regulations set forth the procedure for the Commissioner of Customs to
make a finding that an article being produced, whether by mining,
manufacture, or other means, in any foreign locality with the use of
convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor under penal sanctions
so as to come under the purview of 19 U.S.C. 1307 is being, or is
likely to be, imported into the United States. Paragraph (f) of section
12.42, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 12.42(f), provides that if the
Commissioner of Customs finds that merchandise within the purview of 19
U.S.C. 1307 is being, or is likely to be, imported into the United
States, {s}he will, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury,
publish a finding to that effect in a weekly issue
[[Page 17957]]
of the Customs Bulletin and in the Federal Register.
Finding
Pursuant to section 12.42(f), Customs Regulations (19 CFR
12.42(f)), it is hereby determined that certain articles of the
People's Republic of China which are produced, whether by mining,
manufacture, or other means, with the use of convict, forced, or
indentured labor, are being, or are likely to be, imported into the
United States.
Accordingly, based upon this finding, Customs officers shall
withhold release of any of these articles from the People's Republic of
China. Such discovered articles may be only exported by the Customs
Service.
Articles Covered by This Finding
Malleable Iron Pipe Fittings manufactured by the Tianjin
Malleable Iron Factory, also known as the Tianjin Tongbao Fittings
Company, also known as the Tianjin NO. 2 Malleable Iron Plant, also
known as the Tianjin Secondary Mugging Factory, also known as the
Tianjin NO.2 Prison.
Subject Harmonized Tariff Schedule Numbers
7307.1930, 7307.1990, 7307.911000, 7307.915010, 7307.915050,
7307.923010, 7307.929000, 7307.933000, 7307.939030, 7307.991000,
7307.995015, and 7307.995045.
Dated: March 6, 1996.
Michael H. Lane,
Acting Commissioner of Customs.
Dated: March 20, 1996.
John P. Simpson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary Regulatory, Tariff and Trade Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 96-9875 Filed 4-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P
