AIAG provides forced labour guidance for Mexican automotive supply chains
The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) has released guidance on forced labour requirements in Mexico for the automotive industry.
The group, which recently had six OEMs come together to require suppliers to complete new forced labour due diligence using the AIAG Due Diligence Reporting Template (DDRT), said that Mexico will prohibit goods made with forced labour.
In the guidance, published on AIAG’s website, the group said that the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare will determine whether goods were made with forced labour, and if so, a resolution will be published on the ministry’s website meaning that the goods covered will no longer be accepted into the country.
Unlike the US, Mexico will not pre-emptively stop imports, and will carry out detentions only after examinations are completed.
Importers of the goods have the opportunity to submit information to rebut allegations of forced labour, and a decision will be made within six months of this being filed, and can be extended to one year.
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Under the USMCA, which is up for review next year, Mexico announced a resolution to ban the importation of goods produced with forced labour, effective since May 2023. The regulation means that Mexican citizens or companies can submit a petition to prohibit goods produced by forced labour. The petition will then be reviewed and investigated by Mexico’s ministry, and the government of Mexico can also independently initiate an investigation.
Tanya Bolden, vice-president of supply chain and corporate responsibility for products and services at AIAG, told Automotive Logistics: “Geopolitical issues are so very unpredictable at present, enforcement measures can be a barometer.”
At Automotive Logistics and Supply Chain Global last month, she said that “every entity within our supply chain is important, and the OEMs or anyone that is importing must have that visibility,” adding that “we’re only as strong as our weakest link”.
She stressed that rather than OEMs mandating a specific tool, they just need suppliers to use something to prove due diligence. If suppliers use the AIAG’s DDRT, she said, it allows OEMs to "analyse, have questions and start a dialogue with you to identify if your system is robust enough to protect you" as well as the OEM and the full supply chain. "And that's the important part, starting that dialogue, getting that visibility for the supplier to know that when you have a red flag when an issue pops up," she said.
At ALSC Mexico, from 11-13 November, experts from the US Customs and Border Protection and OEMs including GM, will come together on the panel 'Free-flowing freight: Streamlining Mexico’s customs, inspection and compliance' to discuss how Mexico is accelerating international trade and improving cross-border efficiency by modernising customs and inspection services, and how manufacturers are managing evolving supply chain compliance rules to move automotive freight seamlessly and competitively.
