US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) modified a withhold release order (WRO) that tobacco imported from Malawi by Alliance One International, LLC will be admissible at all US ports of entry effective June 3, 2020, the press release said.

Previously, CBP prevented these tobacco imports from entering the US based on reasonable suspicion that they were produced using forced labour.
CBP modified the WRO based on a rigorous evaluation of Alliance One International’s social compliance programme and efforts to identify and minimise the risks of forced labour from its supply chain. These actions produced evidence that sufficiently supports Alliance One International’s claim that the tobacco produced and harvested from their farms does not use forced labour. The WRO continues to apply to imports of tobacco from Malawi by any company that has not demonstrated to CBP that there is no forced labour in its supply chain, the press release said.
“CBP recognizes the impact that withhold release orders have on importers and exporters, therefore we diligently work to carefully and thoroughly review petitions and admissibility requests,” said Brenda Smith, Executive Assistant Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade. “If companies demonstrate that there is no forced labour in their supply chain, we will modify the withhold release order to exclude them.”