Public Act 093-0307
Public Act 93-0307 of the 93rd General Assembly
Public Act 93-0307
HB0102 Enrolled LRB093 02622 JAM 02632 b
AN ACT concerning forced labor.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
State Prohibition of Goods from Forced Labor Act.
Section 5. Policy. The General Assembly hereby finds and
declares as follows:
(a) The people of Illinois do not support the import of
any goods made by forced, convict, or indentured labor, not
only because it is a cruel suppression of the human right of
free labor and employment practices, but also because it
creates an unfair trade advantage for the forced, convict, or
indentured labor country.
(b) The federal Tariff Act of 1930, while prohibiting
the importation of any goods produced in whole or in part by
forced, convict, or indentured labor, does not require
importers to provide certificates of origin at the time of
importation to affirm and guarantee no forced, convict, or
indentured labor content.
(c) The federal Tariff Act of 1930 also does not require
the United States Customs Service to have an active,
self-initiated foreign surveillance program of detecting
forced, convict, or indentured labor-made goods and
preventing their entry into the United States, but relies
primarily upon complaints made by the public or other
interested groups.
(d) The State of Illinois wholeheartedly supports the
prohibition on imports produced in whole or in part by
forced, convict, or indentured labor and shall not knowingly
acquire any of those goods.
Section 10. Contract certification.
(a) Every contract entered into by any State agency for
the procurement of equipment, materials, or supplies, other
than procurement related to a public works contract, must
specify that no foreign-made equipment, materials, or
supplies furnished to the State under the contract may be
produced in whole or in part by forced labor, convict labor,
or indentured labor under penal sanction. The contractor
must agree to comply with this provision of the contract.
(b) Any contractor contracting with the State who knew
that the foreign-made equipment, materials, or supplies
furnished to the State were produced in whole or part by
forced labor, convict labor, or indentured labor under penal
sanction, when entering into a contract under subsection (a),
may, subject to subsection (c), have any or all of the
following sanctions imposed:
(1) The contract under which the prohibited
equipment, materials, or supplies were provided may be
voided at the option of the State agency to which the
equipment, materials, or supplies were provided.
(2) The contractor may be assessed a penalty which
must be the greater of $1,000 or an amount equaling 20%
of the value of the equipment, materials, or supplies
that the State agency demonstrates were produced in whole
or in part by forced labor, convict labor, or indentured
labor under penal sanction and that were supplied to the
State agency under the contract.
(3) The contractor may be suspended from bidding on
a State contract for a period not to exceed 360 days.
Any moneys collected under this subsection shall be
deposited into the General Revenue Fund.
(c) When imposing the sanctions described in subsection
(b), the contracting agency must notify the contractor of the
right to a hearing if requested within 15 days after the date
of the notice. The hearing must be before an administrative
law judge according to the Illinois Administrative Procedure
Act. The administrative law judge must consider any measures
the contractor has taken to ensure compliance with this
Section and may waive any or all of the sanctions if it is
determined that the contractor has acted in good faith.
The agency must be assessed the cost of the
administrative hearing, unless the agency has prevailed in
the hearing, in which case the contractor shall be assessed
the cost of the hearing.
(d) Any State agency that investigates a complaint
against a contractor for violation of this Section must limit
its investigation to evaluating the information provided by
the person or entity submitting the complaint and the
information provided by the contractor.
(e) For purposes of this Section, the term "forced
labor" has the same meaning as in the federal Tariff Act of
1930.
Effective Date: 01/01/04
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