Don’t associate with forced labour: Stop buying products from Chinese companies Ninestar, Apex, G&G and others asap
June 21, 2023
As of 12 June 2023, the US banned all imports of products from Chinese companies Ninestar and subsidiaries and 8 Zhuhai-based subsidiaries, including Pantum Electronics., Apex Microelectronics, G&G Digital Technology, under their Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act*. These companies were added to a US government list that includes “entities working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang* . And as a result, the US has banned all imports of products, such as cartridges, equipment, components, etc.
The US prohibition has worldwide impact because these products are traded globally. And while there is no official import ban (yet?) in wider Europe, there is the clear ethical question of “do we want to allow such practices ?” Therefore, ETIRA, representing European remanufacturers of OEM toner and inkjet cartridges, calls on all European companies and public bodies to stop as soon as possible the purchase of products from these companies. All European businesses must ensure that their products are not related to forced labor in any way, to avoid Code of conduct violations and other assurances they give their customers about their products. ETIRA recommends European consumers and businesses to buy reuse OEM cartridges from trusted suppliers in wider Europe, and asks public bodies and local governments to lead by example.
ETIRA also refers to a 12 June 2023 letter to its US customers by Lexmark**, a US-printer manufacturer OEM in which Ninestar has an indirect majority ownership. Lexmark writes that Ninestar was one of its suppliers in the US, but due to this development, will no longer source from them. If even their own companies refuse to buy Ninestar products, you should too.
*https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa-entity-list
BACKGROUND
The 2021 US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act strengthens the existing prohibition against the importation of goods made wholly or in part with forced laborinto the United States and to end the systematic use of forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa
In August 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report on the region, concluding that “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghur and “other predominantly Muslim communities” have been committed. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/08/1125932 – (…..) This has included far-reaching, arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, in violation of international laws and standards”, including restrictions on religious freedom and the rights to privacy and movement.