US bans China sweetener products, claiming breach of forced labour law
- Customs order to seize imports of stevia made by Inner Mongolian company based on ‘conclusive evidence’
- Finding is a warning to US importers to clean up supply chains or face seizures and forfeiture, agency says
The United States says it has “conclusive evidence” that a Chinese company in Inner Mongolia used forced labour to produce extracts of a popular sugar substitute and has instructed US ports to seize shipments and begin forfeiture proceedings.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not make any evidence public but said on Tuesday that it had determined that Inner Mongolia Hengzheng Group Baoanzhao Agriculture, Industry and Trade had used “convict, forced or indentured labour” to produce stevia extracts and derivatives.
Stevia is a zero-calorie, natural sugar substitute used in a number of popular products, including soft drinks like Coca-Cola. China is the world’s largest manufacturer of stevia products, according to market analytics firm QYResearch.
The determination of “conclusive evidence” of forced labour marked the first time the agency had reached such a finding since 1996, it said.
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According to Chinese commercial database Tianyancha, Baoanzhao is owned by Inner Mongolia Hengzheng Industrial Group, a wholly state-owned enterprise. Official financial records from 2017 listed on the Inner Mongolia autonomous region’s government website indicate the Hengzheng Industrial Group operates under the jurisdiction of the Inner Mongolian prisons administration.