Experts Say Products Made by Chinese Prison Labor Still Enter US | Voice of America - English
A congressionally-sponsored panel that overseas bilateral trade and economic ties between the United States and China says there is evidence that products made by prison labor in China are making their way to American stores, despite U.S. laws that ban such goods.  The U.S.
TheUnited States and China signed two documents, a Memorandum ofUnderstanding in 1992 and a Statement of Cooperation in 1994, whichsought to guarantee that Chinese-made products imported into the UnitedStates were not made by prison labor. But a member of theU.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Peter Videnieks,says there is evidence that such goods are making their way into thiscountry. "Although formal agreements have been made between theU.S. and Chinese governments to stop the export of prison labor goodsto the U.S., the practice nonetheless continues," he said. HarryWu is an activist for human rights in China, where he spent 19 years inlabor camps. He established the Laogai Research Foundation, which iswidely recognized as a leading source of information on China's laborcamps. Wu, now a U.S. citizen, provided the commission with alist of Chinese forced labor camps, many of which are labeled productfactories. He told the panel the U.S. is not doing enough to stop products made by Chinese prison labor from reaching its shores. "Thelaw is clear in this matter: products produced by prison labor areprohibited from being imported into the United States, regardless ofthe ramifications that enforcement of the prohibition may have onrelations with other countries," he added. The U.S. agencyresponsible for enforcing the law prohibiting the importation of forcedlabor products into the United States is Immigration and CustomsEnforcement (ICE). Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding,the agency can request that the Chinese government investigate prisonlabor allegations relating to U.S. exports and can call upon U.S.embassy officials to visit prisons alleged to have produced goods forexport to verify whether such products are being exported to the UnitedStates. But Daniel Ellis, a lawyer who works on commerciallitigation involving unfair competition and international trade issues,says U.S. investigators are finding their task nearly impossiblebecause China has been reluctant to take action "The guys thatare trying to do the investigation are really hamstrung by therequirements on the Memorandum of Understanding to have the Chinesegovernment or the prison to self-incriminate themselves," heexplained. "As its written and enforced, it isn't functional. Itdoesn't work. And it's clear it doesn't work." Deputy AssistantDirector of ICE's Office of International Affairs, James Ink, was morediplomatic, but did express frustration over the slow pace of China'sresponse to his agency's requests to investigate a number of cases ofalleged Chinese prison-made products exported to the U.S. "Arethey stonewalling? I can't give you any certainly on that, sir," hesaid. "I don't have enough empirical data. I can tell you that thingsare not moving as fast as we would like." Harry Wu said theMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) does little to uphold U.S. law andrather only serves to provide China with diplomatic cover that it canuse to defend itself in the face of criticism over the export of prisonlabor products. "As a first step, I recommend that the MOUbetween the United States and the PRC be revoked, as it has proven tobe totally ineffective in providing enforcement of United States law,"he said. Gary Marck, an American importer and distributor ofdrinkware products, says goods made by Chinese prison labor exported tothe U.S. are sold at a much lower prices than imported products notmade by forced labor, giving them an unfair and unlawful competitiveedge. "The law abiding companies must choose to exit thebusiness, because the price in which the product is sold cannot bematched by lawful means or join in the unlawful importation of productsfrom prison factories," he explained. Marck supportsrecommendations made by the commission that would require U.S.importers to certify that goods are not made by prison labor, blockimports from facilities where inspections by U.S. Customs are notallowed within 60 days of the request to inspect, and establish a listof suspected firms for use by U.S. importers so they could avoidimporting products from those companies.