President Barack Obama has signed a bill on Wednesday banning the import of consumer products produced by foreign countries using slave labor. With this bill the United States market effectively throws its weight in fighting global slavery.
Consumer goods ranging from fishes to electronics coming from countries where slavery still exists will be prevented from entering the country under this new law. This law effectively closed a legal loophole that enabled the importation of goods from forced labor should the US production of goods exceeds demands.
The new law came into being after the exposure of the prevalence of forced labor in the Southeast Asia seafood trade. Legislative action followed in order to strengthen the authority of custom officials to refuse tainted goods.
The slave labor ban is part of a more comprehensive trade bill which was passed by the senate 75 to 20 Thursday. Its passage comes in the middle of increasing public awareness of the menace of modern-day slavery.
There is an estimate of approximately 21 million people victimized by forced labor globally, even including the United States. Although analysts say this import ban will not stop slave-made good from entering the country, it is nevertheless a timely and essential step.
"The mere deterrent effect of closing this loophole is a great step forward," Gil Kerlikowske, said to reporters on a conference call. He is the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "We're going to make sure that is heavily noted throughout the world," he added.
According to Annick Febrey, a senior associate of Human Rights First, the bill that Obama signed into law will keep at bay goods worth billions of dollars produced by forced labor. HRF is an advocacy group.
"It's a really big deal," said Febrey. "While we as a country have said that we are against slavery, we've had this little-known rule in the Tariff Act," she continued.
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