US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) yesterday issued an order barring bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories made by Giant Group (巨大集團) in Taiwan over evidence of forced labor.
CBP said it had issued a withhold release order to detain shipments of bicycles made in Taiwan by Giant — the world's largest bicycle manufacturer — under a law prohibiting goods made using forced labor from entering the US.
The order does not appear to apply to Giant bicycles made outside of Taiwan. The company also has manufacturing facilities in China, Hungary, the Netherlands and Vietnam.
Photo: Taipei Times file
An investigation of Giant had identified forced labor indicators, including abuse of vulnerability, abusive working and living conditions, debt bondage, withholding of wages and excessive overtime, CBP said.
"Giant profited by imposing such abuse, resulting in goods produced below market value and undercutting American businesses by millions of dollars in unjustly earned profits," the CBP said in a statement announcing the order.
It did not provide details of the CBP investigation.
However, a report by the US Department of Labor based on interviews last year with Vietnamese and Thai migrant workers at Giant's factory in Taichung's Dajia District (大甲) identified multiple forced labor risks.
These included debt bondage risks due to home-country recruitment fees and deposits, monthly service fees to Taiwanese labor brokers, withheld wages, abusive living conditions, and intimidation and threats, the report said.
The company had taken steps to remedy some of the issues, such as by stopping wages from being withheld, renovating its workers' dormitories and planning to implement a zero fee policy from January, it said.
Although Giant was "communicative and partially committing" regarding the concerns, it "reject[ed] fee reimbursements," meaning that the debt bondage risk was "still real," the report said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said in a statement that it pledged to work with the Ministry of Labor to "quickly resolve any possible forced labor concerns" to get the ban lifted.
"As a responsible member of global supply chains, Taiwan has long attached great importance to improving labor conditions, and would continue to work with the Ministry of Labor to create a worker-friendly environment," it said.
Giant today said that it was "actively clarifying the facts" and would work to get the ban lifted.
In January, Giant implemented a "zero recruitment fee policy," under which it paid the recruitment, brokerage and government-related fees for all newly hired foreign workers, the company said.
It also completed renovations of its workers' dormitories late last year, providing "safer and more comfortable" living conditions, and introduced an internal control system to ensure its operations meet international labor standards, Giant said.
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