CBP Sees Increase in Shipments Flagged for Forced Labor in October
The number of shipments stopped in October by CBP because of concerns over forced labor rose on a year-over-year and sequential basis, even though the value of those stopped shipments decreased over those same periods, according to CBP data.
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In October, CBP stopped 557 shipments, valued at more than $38 million, on the suspected use of forced labor, according to a Nov. 19 release. That shipment volume is 10.5% higher than October 2023's volume of 504 stopped shipments valued at more than $199 million and 31% higher than September's volume of 425 stopped shipments valued at more than $65 million.
CBP also saw year-over-year and sequential increases in its responses to prohibited agricultural imports. The agency in October issued 7,053 emergency action notifications for restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the U.S., compared with 5,803 notifications in October 2023 and 6,822 notifications in September.
Meanwhile, the number of shipments seized for containing counterfeit goods was mixed compared with previous time periods. CBP seized 1,677 shipments containing counterfeit goods in October, up 12% from October 2023's figure of 1,499 shipments. The value of those seized shipments in October totaled more than $289 million, compared with roughly $160 million seized in October 2023.
However, in September, CBP seized 1,873 shipments containing counterfeit goods, with a value estimated at more than $366 million.
While shipments flagged by CBP for forced labor concerns rose, the volume of entry summaries processed by CBP in October was roughly flat with September and with October 2023.
CBP processed more than 3 million entry summaries valued at more than $308 billion in October. The agency also estimated that it identified duties worth more than $7 billion to be collected by the U.S. government.
In October 2023, CBP processed more than 2.9 million entry summaries valued at more than $289 billion, and it identified nearly $6.8 billion in duties to be collected by the U.S. government.
In September, CBP processed more than 2.9 million entry summaries valued at more than $296.1 billion, and the agency identified nearly $7.6 billion in estimated duties to be collected by the U.S. government