Supply Chain Transparency Pioneer Sourcemap Launches Forced Labor Due Diligence Solution Ahead of U.S. Legislation

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Jun 16, 2022, 07:00 ET

Sourcemap debuts new solution for customs-grade supply chain traceability ahead of the June 21, 2022 enforcement deadline for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
Solution expands proven Sourcemap supplier discovery and transaction traceability software to automate additional data collection, validation and reporting for U.S. Customs and Border Protection
More than 3,000 companies already use Sourcemap to verify their global supply chains for customs compliance

NEW YORK, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sourcemap, a global provider of supply chain transparency and traceability software, today announced the launch of its Forced Labor Due Diligence Solution to help U.S. businesses meet evolving human rights standards mandated by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Forced Labor Due Diligence Solution is critical to manage the end-to-end due diligence reporting requirements of the UFLPA, which is expected to place enhanced scrutiny on the automotive, aerospace, semiconductor, solar power, apparel, food and pharmaceutical industries. To date, more than 3,000 companies have registered for Sourcemap's Forced Labor Due Diligence Solution in advance of the June 21, 2022 UFLPA enforcement deadline.

The UFLPA aims to prevent products from entering the United States if they were made wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), or made from Uyghur labor elsewhere in China. When the UFLPA goes into effect, many of the world's largest industries will be vulnerable to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement, facing risk of detentions, exclusions, seizures and civil or criminal liability if forced labor is found in any tier of their supply chains.

In direct response to the UFLPA's passage last December 2021, Sourcemap developed the Forced Labor Due Diligence Solution specifically to help companies solve the "chain of custody challenge" -- proving that they can trace products from raw material to U.S. import -- by assembling definitive proof of the entities within their supply chains. This includes supplier discovery (identifying all of the stakeholders in the supply chain), transaction traceability (following every batch of raw material as it is converted into finished goods) and validation, including scanning suppliers for risk of fraud, waste and abuse.

"Under the UFLPA, the most important and difficult questions facing any importer will be 'What do you know about the entities within your entire supply chain?' and 'What proof can you present regarding how imported goods were produced, wholly or in part?'" said John Foote, partner and head of the customs practice at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and author of the newsletter, Forced Labor & Trade.

Forced Labor Due Diligence Solution marries Sourcemap's supplier network discovery capabilities – which help companies map their supply chains down to raw materials suppliers – with powerful traceability capabilities that verify the chain of custody for every container entering a U.S. port. The solution equips retailers, manufacturers and brands with a better understanding of their suppliers, from Tier 1 to Tier N, and presents proof of the origin of imported goods required by U.S. law.

Key features of the Sourcemap Forced Labor Due Diligence Solution:

Supplier Discovery: Expands on Sourcemap's supplier discovery software with an automatic classification of suppliers through forced labor risk heat maps for enhanced due diligence.
End-to-End Traceability: Collects all of the documentation needed to validate the chain of custody, compliance with forced labor regulations, and to root out fraud, waste or abuse that may obscure the presence of forced labor.
Real-Time Monitoring: Collects real-time data to monitor supplier and overall supply chain risk exposure to fast-changing conditions including sanctions, affiliations, and adverse media, including exposure to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list.
On-Demand Reporting for CBP: Automatically generates detailed reports on the chain of custody and compliance of individual shipments in response to CBP inquiries and Withhold Release Orders (WROs).

With more than 400,000 businesses registered on its network, Sourcemap is the largest supply chain mapping and traceability software company, supporting decision-making on over $1.5B of purchased goods. Sourcemap counts 8 of the 10 largest food companies, 4 of the 7 largest apparel companies and 6 of the 10 largest commodity traders in the world among its customers.

"Forced labor and the global supply chain have become intrinsically connected. Under the UFLPA, companies may be considered guilty until proven innocent," said Sourcemap founder & CEO Leonardo Bonanni, who recently testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on technology for forced labor enforcement. "As suppliers seek to de-risk their supply chains and meet coming ESG and trade regulations, our platform is positioned to become the de facto standard for supply chain transparency and traceability."

About Sourcemap

Sourcemap is the pioneer of supply chain transparency and traceability software, spun out of early MIT research in 2011. Since then, major traders, manufacturers and brands have adopted Sourcemap's full-suite solution for assurance on the raw materials-to-finished goods supply chain, including ongoing monitoring for production, quality, sustainability and risks such as deforestation and forced labor. To learn more, visit http://www.sourcemap.com/.

SOURCE Sourcemap