UPDATE: On November 1, 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a message announcing that implementation of its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Region Alert is postponed until further notice. CBP stated that its Office of Trade “is actively working with impacted users to address concerns” and that a new implementation date will be determined.
Original SmarTrade post of October 27, 2022:
CBP to Require New Customs Entry Data Element for Chinese Goods
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced it is adding a Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (UFLPA) “Region Alert” with a new mandatory data element for reporting imports via the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system. The UFLPA Region Alert will add new validations that will be performed when the Country of Origin is reported as China for entry and for Manufacturer Identification Code (MID). The new data element will be a required postal code for entries from China. After inputting the postal code, users will receive an error message if the postal code provided is not a valid Chinese postal code. In addition, users will receive a warning message when a Uyghur region postal code has been provided.
While noted for implementation in November 2022, a more formal Information Notice will likely be published by CBP in November with a testing period, followed by a full implementation date in mid-December 2022. This new data element and validation process is intended to assist CBP with the implementation of the UFLPA and screening imports for possible concerns involving forced labor in the importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.