[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15448-15449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05738]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket No. DHS-2022-0001]


Notice of Public Hearing on the Use of Forced Labor in the 
People's Republic of China and Measures To Prevent the Importation of 
Goods Produced, Mined, or Manufactured, Wholly or in Part, With Forced 
Labor in the People's Republic of China Into the United States

AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) will hold a 
public hearing, as required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, 
on the use of forced labor in the People's Republic of China and 
potential measures to prevent the importation of goods mined, produced, 
or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's 
Republic of China into the United States. This hearing will be held 
remotely via web conference.

DATES: The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) will hold the 
hearing on Friday, April 8, 2022, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 1:30 
p.m. EDT. Members of the public interested in providing public 
testimony must register by Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 11:59 p.m. EDT; 
instructions on how to register are included in ADDRESSES. Please note 
that the hearing may close early, or run over time, depending on the 
number of registered speakers. Allocation of time within the event may 
shift based on participation and registration per topic area, as listed 
in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held remotely via web conference. 
Members of the public interested in providing public testimony at the 
hearing must register at the following link, https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ, by Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 11:59 p.m. EDT. You must 
indicate in the registration form that you want to speak by selecting 
``provide public testimony'' in question 6 (explaining how you are 
``requesting to'' participate). You must register for the public 
hearing with the same email address that you plan to use to login to 
attend the public hearing. When registering, identify the topic area on 
which you would like to speak. More information regarding the list of 
topics is included in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.
    Members of the public interested in attending in listen-only mode 
can

[[Page 15449]]

register at the same link, https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ, by 
selecting ``attend (listen only)'' in question 6 (explaining how you 
are ``requesting to'' participate). You must register for the public 
hearing by 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 6, 2022 to ensure you will receive 
the conference link. The conference link will be provided to all 
registrants by 8:00 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 8, 2022.
    Reasonable accommodations are available for people with 
disabilities. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the person 
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below as soon as 
possible. DHS is considering providing interpretation services for 
those interested in providing public testimony in the following 
languages: Spanish, Mandarin, and Uyghur. It is requested that you 
advise the FLETF accordingly when registering to participate, at the 
same registration link, https://forms.office.com/g/fC8AeiDEbQ.
    Written comments related to this public hearing were submitted 
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov/ 
and posted. For access to the docket and to read comments received by 
the FLETF, go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID 
DHS-2022-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Echeverria, Acting Director of 
Trade Policy, Trade and Economic Security, Office of Strategy, Policy, 
and Plans, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at 202-938-6365 
or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Uyghur Forced Labor 
Prevention Act (UFLPA),\1\ this notice announces that DHS, on behalf of 
the FLETF,\2\ will hold a public hearing that will allow for public 
testimony on the use of forced labor in the People's Republic of China 
(PRC) and potential measures to prevent the importation of goods, 
wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured 
wholly or in part with forced labor in the PRC into the United States. 
The hearing will consider measures that can be taken to trace the 
origin of goods, offer greater supply chain transparency, and identify 
third country supply chain routes for goods mined, produced, or 
manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the PRC, as well as 
other measures for ensuring that such goods do not enter the United 
States.
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    \1\ See Public Law 117-78, section 2(b).
    \2\ Section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement 
Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4681) established the FLETF to monitor 
U. S. enforcement of the prohibition under Section 307 of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1307).
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    The FLETF invites the public to speak during the hearing, and 
recommends that interested parties review the Notice that requested 
comments on the measures described by the UFLPA.\3\ Members of the 
public who are interested in speaking during this hearing should 
register in accordance with the directions in the ADDRESSES section of 
this notice. If you register to provide public testimony, you will be 
called upon using the name you provide during registration to offer 
public testimony. If you wish to highlight your affiliation with an 
association, organization, or corporation, you must provide this 
information during your remarks. We also request that each speaker 
limit their comments to three minutes. The hearing will be broken into 
sections based on topics in the order below. If DHS provides 
interpretation services for public testimony based on public request, 
public testimony requiring interpretation services will occur after the 
remarks to open the hearing. Each speaker will be called on during the 
section related to the topic that speaker identified during 
registration. The order of topics is as follows:
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    \3\ See, Notice seeking Public Comments on Methods to Prevent 
the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with 
Forced labor in the People's Republic of China, Especially in the 
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Into the United States, 87 FR 
3567 (Jan. 24, 2022).
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     Forced Labor Schemes in Xinjiang and the PRC;
     Risks of Importing Goods Made Wholly or in Part with 
Forced Labor;
     Measures That Can Be Taken to Trace the Origin of Goods 
and to Offer Greater Supply Chain Transparency;
     Measures That Can Be Taken to Identify Third Country 
Supply Chain Routes;
     Factors To Consider in Developing and Maintaining the 
Required Entities List;
     High Priority Sectors, Including Cotton, Tomato, and/or 
Polysilicon Supply Chains, for Enforcement;
     Needed Importer Guidance;
     Opportunities for Coordination and Collaboration; and,
     Other General Comments Related to the Uyghur Forced Labor 
Prevention Act and Comments Covering Multiple Topics.
    Speakers may submit supplemental written testimony.\4\ Written 
testimony should be submitted to the email provided in ADDRESSES 
([email protected]). Please use the email used to 
register for the public hearing to submit supplemental written 
testimony in .doc, .docx or .pdf form by April 8, 2022 at 9 a.m. The 
public hearing transcript and all written testimony, submitted 
according to the above guidelines, will be posted in Docket No. DHS-
2022-0001 after the public hearing. Confidential information should not 
be provided through the public hearing process, in either written or 
oral testimony. The FLETF cannot accept any written testimony that is 
hand-delivered, couriered, or mailed at this time. This hearing along 
with all comments will be recorded and transcribed.
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    \4\ Written testimony will only be accepted from speakers 
providing oral testimony.
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    Senior officials of the interagency members represented in the 
FLETF, including the FLETF Chair (DHS Undersecretary for Strategy, 
Policy, and Plans),\5\ will make remarks to open the hearing, and will 
continue to observe the hearing unless called away for official 
responsibilities. Staff from each of the FLETF interagency members will 
be present throughout the entirety of the hearing to take note of the 
public testimony. As mentioned above, this public hearing will be 
recorded and transcribed.
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    \5\ Pursuant to DHS Delegation Order No.23034, the DHS Under 
Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans serves as the Chair of the 
FLETF.
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    On January 24, 2022, DHS, on behalf of the FLETF, published a 
notice document (Notice) requesting public comments on how best to 
ensure that goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or 
manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the PRC are not 
imported into the United States. See 87 FR 3567. DHS and the FLETF 
recommend that members of the public that will attend the hearing 
review the Notice in advance.
    The FLETF will use the comments received from the Notice and 
information gathered from this public hearing to inform the development 
of the strategy required by the UFLPA.\6\ The FLETF will consider all 
comments and information received during this public hearing.
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    \6\ See Public Law 117-78, section 2(c).

Robert Silvers,
Under Secretary, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans.
[FR Doc. 2022-05738 Filed 3-15-22; 4:15 pm]
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