Many readers likely are aware that Florida routinely leads the nation in the production of fresh market tomatoes, among other important agricultural products. What may be less widely known is that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP or U.S. Customs) strategically has located the leadership of its team of agricultural experts in the Port of Miami. U.S. Customs is the federal agency with primary border authority to ensure compliant imports into the United States. CBP’s decision to locate its agricultural brain trust in South Florida could take on increased importance as new laws to ban imports made with forced labor (including tomatoes) take effect this summer.
For nearly 100 years, federal law has prohibited the importation of foreign goods made (wholly or in part) with forced labor. See 19 U.S.C. Section 1307. For most of that time, however, the statute contained language that allowed imports of products for which domestic production could not “meet the consumptive demands of the United States.” Congress repealed that loophole on a bipartisan basis in 2015. Since then, forced labor enforcement activity by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP or U.S. Customs) has skyrocketed. This trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, especially in light of recent changes to the law that target forced labor imports whose supply chains may be traced back to specific geographic locations in the People’s Republic of China (or that involve designated entities of concern).
