On August 13, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that a U.S. company has been fined $575,000 for importing powdered sweetener that was made by prison labor in China.

A passage of a 2015 law bans the import of goods made by forced labor and the penalty against Pure Circle U.S.A is the first fine issued by the agency.

CBP said the company had imported at least 20 shipments of stevia powder and derivatives that had been processed in China with prison labor. Stevia is a plant extract used as a sweetener in sodas and other foods.

Brenda Smith, Executive Assistant Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, said in a statement: “As part of its trade enforcement responsibilities, CBP will hold companies accountable for importing goods produced with forced labor.”

Pure Circle said that it did not admit liability as part of the settlement with CBP, and agreed to pay the fine to end the costly investigation. A company spokesperson said in a statement: “We have strongly refuted and provided substantial evidence disproving the CBP’s 2016 claim that forced labor was used to produce the stevia we source from China.”

CBP has stepped up its investigations of imports suspected to be made with forced labor in China. It has issued 11 detention orders since last September, including four against products from China.

Smith said at the time: “The use of forced labor is not just a serious human rights issue, but it also brings about unfair competition in our global supply chains.”

In June, the CBP seized 13 tons of human hair products worth $800,000 suspected to have been made by forced labor in the region of Xinjiang, China. Activists and researchers believe the hair was sourced from Uyghur Muslim inmates detained in the region’s vast network of internment camps.

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