[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4840 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4840

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers to make 
certain disclosures relating to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2023

  Ms. Wexton (for herself, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Carson, Mr. Connolly, Mr. 
 Espaillat, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Pelosi, Ms. Sanchez, 
  Mr. Sherman, Ms. Sherrill, and Ms. Titus) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers to make 
certain disclosures relating to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE XINJIANG 
              UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION AS PROCEDURE FOR REGISTRATION OF 
              SECURITIES ON AN EXCHANGE.

    (a) In General.--Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(15 U.S.C. 78l) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Reporting of Certain Activities Relating to the Xinjiang 
Uyghur Autonomous Region.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than the end of the 180-day 
        period beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection, 
        the Commission shall issue rules--
                    ``(A) to require an issuer filing an application to 
                register a security with a national securities exchange 
                to--
                            ``(i) include in such application the 
                        documentation described under paragraph (2); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) to file the application and 
                        documentation with the Commission;
                    ``(B) to require an issuer to file a report with 
                the Commission containing the documentation described 
                under paragraph (2) if the issuer is not listed on an 
                exchange and merges with another issuer that is listed 
                on the exchange; and
                    ``(C) to require an issuer filing a registration 
                statement under subsection (g) to include with such 
                statement the documentation described under paragraph 
                (2).
            ``(2) Documentation required.--With respect to an issuer, 
        the documentation described under this paragraph is 
        documentation showing whether the issuer or any affiliate of 
        the issuer, directly or indirectly, contains within its supply 
        or production chain--
                    ``(A) goods, wares, articles, or merchandise 
                sourced from or through the XUAR, or mined, produced, 
                or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor 
                identified by mandate of section 2(d)(2)(B)(iv) of 
                Public Law 117-78, including--
                            ``(i) the industries contained on the 
                        `Illustrative List of Industries in Xinjiang in 
                        which Public Reporting has indicated Labor 
                        Abuses may be Taking Place' in Annex 2 of the 
                        `Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory' 
                        (published July 13, 2021) and any successor 
                        list; and
                            ``(ii) all products listed within `high-
                        priority sectors for enforcement' by the Forced 
                        Labor Enforcement Task Force pursuant to Public 
                        Law 117-78; or
                    ``(B) goods, wares, articles, or merchandise that 
                are mined, produced, or manufactured by an entity 
                engaged in labor transfers from the XUAR or forced 
                labor.
            ``(3) Transparent documentation of supply chain links.--In 
        issuing rules under paragraph (1), the Commission shall require 
        an issuer to list the name (in English and in the most 
        commonly-spoken language of the country in which the issuer is 
        incorporated, if other than English), address, and sourcing 
        quantities from each smelter, refinery, farm, or manufacturing 
        facility (as appropriate) of each person mining, producing, or 
        manufacturing a good, ware, article, or merchandise described 
        under paragraph (2).
            ``(4) Independent verification of documentation.--In 
        issuing rules under paragraph (1), the Commission shall require 
        an issuer--
                    ``(A) to obtain independent verification of the 
                documentation described under paragraph (2), by a 
                third-party auditor approved by the Commission, before 
                the filing of an application, report, or registration 
                statement containing such documentation;
                    ``(B) to maintain the confidentiality of the 
                identity of such third-party auditor, unless the 
                auditor proactively waives confidentiality; and
                    ``(C) to establish policies to respond to any 
                reprisals against the third-party auditor.
            ``(5) Public availability of documentation.--The Commission 
        shall make all documentation received under this subsection 
        available to the public.
            ``(6) Additional penalties for certain violations.--In 
        addition to other penalties provided under this Act, with 
        respect to an application described under paragraph (1)(A), if 
        an issuer fails to comply with the requirements of this 
        subsection (including any misrepresentation of the information 
        described under paragraph (3))--
                    ``(A) the applicable national securities exchange 
                may not approve such application; and
                    ``(B) the issuer may not re-file the application 
                for 1 year.
            ``(7) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Forced labor.--The term `forced labor' 
                means--
                            ``(i) any labor carried out by the Uyghur, 
                        Kazakh, Kyrgyz, or another oppressed ethnic 
                        group in the People's Republic of China under 
                        any State-sponsored labor program, including 
                        any program associated with `surplus labor 
                        transfer', `poverty alleviation', `mutual aid', 
                        `Xinjiang Aid', and re-education programs 
                        targeting minoritized citizens of the XUAR, 
                        whether inside or outside;
                            ``(ii) any labor carried out in the XUAR 
                        unless the specific labor has been identified 
                        by the United States authorities under existing 
                        forced labor and the Uyghur protection laws as 
                        not involving the use of forced labor; and
                            ``(iii) any use of convict labor, forced 
                        labor, or indentured labor described under 
                        section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
                        U.S.C. 1307).
                    ``(B) XUAR.--The term `XUAR' means the Xinjiang 
                Uyghur Autonomous Region.''.
    (b) Repeal.--The amendment made by this section shall be repealed 
on the earlier of--
            (1) the date that is 8 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this section; or
            (2) the date on which the President submits to Congress 
        (including the Office of the Law Revision Council) a 
        determination that the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China has ended mass internment, forced labor, and any other 
        gross violations of human rights experienced by Uyghurs, 
        Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other persecuted groups in the 
        Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE XINJIANG 
              UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.

    (a) In General.--Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(t) Disclosure of Certain Activities Relating to the Xinjiang 
Uyghur Autonomous Region.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than the end of the 180-day 
        period beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection, 
        the Commission shall issue rules to require each issuer 
        required to file an annual report under this section or section 
        15(d) or a proxy statement under section 14 to disclose in each 
        such report or proxy statement whether, during the period 
        covered by the report or proxy statement--
                    ``(A) the issuer or any affiliate of the issuer, 
                directly or indirectly, engaged with an entity or the 
                affiliate of an entity to use or source goods, wares, 
                articles, or merchandise sourced from or through the 
                XUAR, or mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in 
                part by forced labor identified by mandate of section 
                2(d)(2)(B)(iv) of Public Law 117-78, including--
                            ``(i) the industries contained on the 
                        `Illustrative List of Industries in Xinjiang in 
                        which Public Reporting has indicated Labor 
                        Abuses may be Taking Place' in Annex 2 of the 
                        `Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory' 
                        (published July 13, 2021) and any successor 
                        list;
                            ``(ii) all products listed as `high-
                        priority sectors for enforcement' by the Forced 
                        Labor Enforcement Task Force pursuant to Public 
                        Law 117-78; and
                            ``(iii) all products exported from the 
                        People's Republic of China into the United 
                        States that are listed by mandate of section 
                        2(d)(2)(B)(iv) of Public Law 117-78 that are 
                        sourced from or through the XUAR; or
                    ``(B) with respect to any goods, wares, articles, 
                or merchandise described under subparagraph (A), 
                whether the goods, wares, articles, or merchandise have 
                supply chain links to facilities that employ forced 
                labor;
                    ``(C) with respect to each good, ware, article, and 
                merchandise described under subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) the nature and extent of the 
                        commercial activity related to the good, ware, 
                        article, or merchandise;
                            ``(ii) the gross revenue and net profits, 
                        if any, attributable to the good, ware, 
                        article, or merchandise;
                            ``(iii) the alternative sourcing options 
                        for the good, ware, article, or merchandise, 
                        while protecting proprietary information of the 
                        issuer and any other cited business;
                            ``(iv) a description of the measures taken 
                        by the issuer to exercise due diligence on the 
                        source and chain of custody of the good, ware, 
                        article, or merchandise; and
                            ``(v) other entities and facilities 
                        affiliated with the facility employing forced 
                        labor, including the physical location of such 
                        facilities and of the supplier entity's 
                        headquarters; and
                    ``(D) the issuer or any affiliate of the issuer, 
                directly or indirectly, was involved in the development 
                or provision of surveillance goods, services, or 
                technologies (including telecommunications, information 
                security, and sensors) used to facilitate gross human 
                rights abuses.
            ``(2) Availability of information.--The Commission shall 
        make all information disclosed pursuant to this subsection 
        available to the public on the website of the Commission.
            ``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection, the terms `forced 
        labor' and `XUAR' have the meaning given those terms, 
        respectively, under section 12(m)(8).''.
    (b) Repeal.--The amendment made by this section shall be repealed 
on the earlier of--
            (1) the date that is 8 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this section; or
            (2) the date on which the President submits to Congress 
        (including the Office of the Law Revision Council) a 
        determination that the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China has ended mass internment, forced labor, and any other 
        gross violations of human rights experienced by Uyghurs, 
        Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other persecuted groups in the 
        Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

SEC. 4. REPORTS.

    (a) Securities and Exchange Commission Annual Report to Congress.--
The Securities and Exchange Commission shall--
            (1) conduct an annual assessment of the compliance of 
        issuers with the requirements of section 12(m) of the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on--
                    (A) issuers described under paragraph (1)(A) of 
                such section 12(m);
                    (B) issuers described under paragraph (1)(B) of 
                such section 12(m); and
                    (C) issuers described under paragraph (1)(C) of 
                such section 12(m);
            (2) conduct an annual assessment of the compliance of 
        issuers with the requirements of section 13(t) of the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
            (3) issue a report to Congress containing the results of 
        the assessments under paragraph (1) and (2).
    (b) GAO Report.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
periodically evaluate and report to Congress on the effectiveness of 
the oversight by the Commission of the certification requirements under 
section 12(m) and section 13(t) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
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