Activists worried about forced labor have lost a lawsuit against a Canadian ban on all goods imported from China’s Xinjiang region. The Federal Court rejected their request to overturn a decision by the Canadian Border Services that the agency had no authority to enact such a ban. The lawsuit was settled out of court by former Secretary of State David Kilgour, who died this month, and the Canadian Refugee Support Group. They wanted the border service to generally ban the import of goods from Xinjiang on the grounds that they were mined, manufactured or produced in whole or in part by forced labor, unless there is clear evidence that there was no coercion. Activists have accused the Chinese state of oppressing the Uighur people and other ethnic minorities recruited for involuntary labor in large labor camps. The federal government has expressed concern about documented repression of Uighurs and other minorities by Chinese authorities based on their religion and nationality under the pretext of fighting terrorism and religious extremism. Ottawa says there have been credible reports of human rights abuses against Uighurs and others in the Xinjiang region, including mass arbitrary detention, forced separation of children from their parents, repression of religious and cultural practices, repressive practices, and repressive measures. labor, forced sterilization and torture. Under a tariff stemming from its trade agreement with Mexico and the United States, Canada is obliged to ban the importation of goods produced by forced labor. In January last year, a Border Service official said in an email to the refugee group and other supporters of a ban that he had no power to ban or regulate goods that may have been produced by forced labor solely on the basis of their origin. in a specific region or country. Instead, the border service focuses on producers or importers rather than regions or countries, and the ban on such goods applies on a case-by-case basis. In a recent ruling, Jocelyne Gagné Associate Chief Justice of the Federal Court said she saw no evidence of either the customs law or the tariff that required the border service to take a decision such as that requested by the refugee group and allies . He further said that any shipment of goods arriving in Canada is subject to the officer’s determination of origin, invoice and value and such decisions can be appealed through administrative mechanisms. The Canadian International Court of Commerce has first-hand jurisdiction to review the findings of the Border Patrol, and the Federal Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals from commercial court decisions, he noted. Gagné said the border guard’s email was not subject to judicial review. Even so, applicants have not found evidence that the current legal system fails to prevent goods produced through forced labor from entering Canada, he added.
