More than eight months after a new regulation came into effect to help stop products made with forced labour from entering Canada, not a single shipment has been prevented from coming into the country.
The changes to Canada’s Customs Tariff, first agreed to under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, aim to prevent companies from importing items made with forced labour and went into effect July 1, 2020.
As concern grows about China’s Uyghur people being used as forced labour, Ottawa has been vocal about its efforts to stop goods made by suppliers from entering Canada. But the results of these efforts haven’t been seen on the ground...
This was excerpted from the 9 March 2021 issue of the Guelph Mercury Tribune.