U.S. Importing Pharmaceuticals Linked to Forced Labor, Report Says
Since the report, the FDA appears to have moved to withdraw two drug exporters from its vetted list, though at least one is still approved.
By: The Impending Bloom Project
October 11, 2024
The FDA is allowing pharmaceuticals linked to forced labor in Xinjiang to enter the United States, despite an import ban on goods from the region in place since 2022, according to a new report.
“If you’ve been to a pharmacy lately, there’s a chance that something you bought was produced with Uyghur forced labor,” wrote the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Advanced Defense Studies.
One of these links is through the largest pharmaceutical company in China, Sinopharm, a partially state-owned entity also known as the China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation. It made more than $80 billion in revenue in 2023, according to its financial report.
The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is one of four regions where the company’s production is concentrated, with 265 of Sinopharm's medicines manufactured there.
The report, Side Effects, stated companies in the United States have received hundreds of shipments from Sinopharm since the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) took effect on June 21, 2022. Trade data suggests the shipments include products with a high risk of being made in Xinjiang because it’s the only location where Sinopharm has those specific pharmaceuticals manufactured. Those include Vitamin B and its derivatives.
Citing what the U.S. State Department has called “horrific abuses” against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, federal officials have banned the importation of products from the region.
The U.S. government considers all products from Xinjiang to be the result of "detainee or prison labor and situations of forced labor."
Sinopharm remains registered as a vetted importer with the FDA.
Foreign investors also hold shares in Sinopharm, including two U.S. entities. Citigroup holds 3.10% of Sinopharm’s total shares, and BlackRock 2.60%.
Two other Xinjiang-based producers, Xinjiang Nuziline Biopharmaceutical Company and SEL Biochem Xinjiang Company, were registered with the FDA through the end of the year according to the report, but they appear to have been removed from the agency’s list since.
Xinjiang Nuziline Biopharmaceutical Company had been expanding its exports since 2017 and had completed product qualification certification in more than 30 countries, including the United States.
Its general manager stated in 2021 that “as the company continues to grow and develop, it has accepted surplus laborers,” a reference to forced labor.
The company manufactures hormone replacement therapy for menopause, and is the only Chinese company licensed to produce conjugated estrogen tablets and creams.
China is the world’s largest active pharmaceutical ingredient producer, but the global footprint of Xinjiang-made pharmaceuticals has yet to be analyzed in depth.
To date, only one pharmaceutical producer from Xinjiang — the biotechnology firm Chenguang Biotech Group Co. — has been added to the federal UFLPA Entity List.