As a consequence of U.S. and UN sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea), companies increasingly need to coordinate compliance efforts across the typically distinct worlds of economic sanctions and import/customs compliance. This is particularly necessary with respect to identifying, and mitigating the risk of DPRK-related labor in supply chains. Below, we summarize first the expanded scope of UN restrictions on the DPRK, including the prohibition on the use of DPRK labor, and then second, how those rules have been implemented and expanded in the United States in increasingly complex ways.

Part I:    United Nations Restrictions:

The United Nations has maintained limited sanctions on North Korea for years, but in 2017 it expanded those sanctions in a number of material ways.  Of relevance to this analysis, the UN Security Council (UNSC) reached a determination that all DPRK labor outside of North Korea poses a high forced labor-related risk.  As a result, the UNSC first required that all new work visas for DPRK citizens be approved by the UNSC, before expanding that restriction in December 2017 (UNSCR 2397) to require all UN Member States to repatriate all DPRK workers currently employed in their territory “immediately but not later than 24 months” (i.e., December 2019).  Therefore, for example Chinese and Taiwanese companies could currently employ DPRK citizens, but they will be required to reduce that employment and ultimately curtail it, or risk violation of UN resolutions.

Part II:   U.S. Restrictions:

In parallel, the United States has implemented a growing array of restrictions that also target DPRK labor.  Below, we summarize the relevant (a) U.S. sanctions prohibiting transactions with the DPRK and (b) a parallel set of import requirements presumptively prohibiting products manufactured with DPRK nationals in the supply chain:

(1) U.S. Sanctions on the DPRK:

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has maintained a comprehensive embargo on the DPRK since 2017 and more limited restrictions for decades. Today, OFAC prohibits the export of any goods or services to the DPRK  and any transactions with the Government of North Korea or the Workers Party of North Korea.  OFAC generally considers a transaction with a DPRK national ordinarily resident in the DPRK to be prohibited as an indirect export of a service to the DPRK.

Importantly, for this analysis, OFAC also prohibits the importation of any goods or services from the DPRK, even items with only a de minimis percentage DPRK content (e.g., a $10,000 widget produced in Russia with a $2 North Korean origin part would be considered North Korean origin and prohibited entry into the United States).

Over the last few months, we have seen that OFAC has aggressively expanded its enforcement of these provisions, including designation of persons involved in DPRK trade, and issuing advisories to the shipping community about DPRK risks in the supply chain.  See https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm458; https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Documents/dprk_vessel_advisory_02232018.pdf; and https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/dprk_supplychain_advisory_07232018.pdf.

(2) DPRK-Related Import Prohibitions:

In parallel, since August 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has maintained a North Korean related import restriction.  Specifically, pursuant to Section 321(b) of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”), CBP utilizes a presumption that any “significant goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by the labor of North Korean nationals or citizens” is produced through forced labor and therefore is prohibited for entry into the United States.  The presumption can be rebutted only through “clear and convincing” evidence that the DPRK nationals are not forced labor (e.g., a demonstration that they are asylees or refugees in a third country).  To assist importers in meeting their “reasonable care” obligation to ensure that goods entering the United States meet these new provisions, the Department of Homeland Security has published CAATSA Section 321(b) Guidance on due diligence steps importers can take, while CBP has noted that the seafood industry presents a high risk of DPRK nationals.  See e.g., https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/spotlights/cbp-leads-delegation-thailand-discusses-forced-labor-concerns-fishing-industry.

Part III: Significant Points for Importers, Exporters and U.S. Companies

The net result of the overlap of the above restrictions is:

  • All U.S. and non-U.S. companies are prohibited to grant new work permits to DPRK nationals, except DPRK nationals seeking an asylum or refugee status.
  • U.S. companies are prohibited under U.S. sanctions law from directly or indirectly exporting goods or services to the DPRK, including transacting with persons ordinarily resident in the DPRK.
  • U.S. companies are prohibited under U.S. sanctions to import any products produced in whole or in part (no matter how small the percentage) with DPRK origin material into the United States.
  • All products manufactured in whole, or in part, with DPRK national labor are presumptively considered to be produced with forced labor and are therefore prohibited to enter the United States, unless the importer can demonstrate through “clear and convincing” evidence that the DPRK nationals were not forced labor (e.g., by demonstrating they are asylum seekers).

 

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Photo of Dj Wolff Dj Wolff

David (Dj) Wolff is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a director with C&M International, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he serves on the steering committee for the International Trade Group, where his practice focuses

David (Dj) Wolff is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a director with C&M International, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he serves on the steering committee for the International Trade Group, where his practice focuses on all aspects of compliance with U.S. economic sanctions, including day-to-day compliance guidance, developing compliance programs, responding to government inquiries, conducting internal investigations, and representation during civil and criminal enforcement proceedings. Dj works regularly with non-U.S. clients, both in Europe and Asia, to evaluate the jurisdictional reach of U.S. sanction authorities to their global operations, identify and manage the potential conflict of laws that can result from that reach, as well as to support client’s design, implementation, and evaluation of a corresponding risk-based sanctions compliance program. Dj also regularly leads teams in diligence efforts on trade and related regulatory areas on behalf of his U.S. and non-U.S. clients in the M&A arena, having successfully closed more than 30 deals with an aggregate valuation of several billion dollars over the last 18 months.

Dj is ranked by Chambers USA in International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions. He has previously been recognized by Law360 as a Rising Star in International Trade (2020), by The National Law Journal as a “DC Rising Star” (2019), by Who’s Who Legal: Investigations as a “Future Leader” (2018 and 2019), Acritas Star as an Acritas Stars Independently Rated Lawyers (2019), by Global Investigations Review as one of the “40 under 40” in Investigations internationally (2017), and WorldECR as one of the five finalists for the WorldECR Young Practitioner of the Year award (2016).

Photo of Frances P. Hadfield Frances P. Hadfield

Frances P. Hadfield is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group in the firm’s New York office. Her practice focuses on forced labor and withhold release orders (WRO), import regulatory compliance, and customs litigation. She regularly advises corporations on matters involving…

Frances P. Hadfield is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group in the firm’s New York office. Her practice focuses on forced labor and withhold release orders (WRO), import regulatory compliance, and customs litigation. She regularly advises corporations on matters involving customs compliance, audits, customs enforcement, as well as import penalties.

Frances represents clients before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as in proceedings at the administrative level. She advises corporations on both substantive federal and state regulatory issues that involve U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife in matters pertaining to product admissibility, audits, classification, import restrictions, investigations, marking, licenses, origin, penalties, and tariff preference programs.

Photo of Edward Goetz Edward Goetz

Edward Goetz is the Director for International Trade Services in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. Edward leads the firm’s international trade analysts providing practice support to the International Trade Group in the areas of customs regulations, trade remedies, trade policy, export control…

Edward Goetz is the Director for International Trade Services in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. Edward leads the firm’s international trade analysts providing practice support to the International Trade Group in the areas of customs regulations, trade remedies, trade policy, export control, economic sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML), anti-corruption/anti-bribery, and antiboycott. He has extensive government experience providing information and interpretive guidance on the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) concerning the export of defense articles, defense services, and related technical data. He also assists attorneys with matters involving the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), economic sanctions, AML, anti-corruption/anti-bribery, and trade remedies.