According to media reports, Charge Solar Renewables Inc. sued the Canada Border Services Agency over allegations the agency wrongfully detained its solar panels imported from China over suspicion they were made with forced labour. The case is ongoing.
- According to media reports, Canadian company Charge Solar Renewables Inc. sued the Canada Border Services Agency on the grounds that the agency wrongfully detained solar panels worth more than US$3.8 million which it imported from China over suspicions they were made with forced labour. We have not been able to review the case documents and are relying on media reports.
- Under Canada’s forced labour ban, companies are prohibited from importing goods mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part by forced labour.
- The law came into force in 2020, and since 2021, around 50 shipments have been intercepted and investigated. According to the media report, only one of these shipments was found the be made with forced labour, and one shipment was “abandoned” by the importer.
- Charge Solar had a contract with Chinese firm LONGi Green Energy Technology, one of the largest solar manufacturers globally, for the shipment of solar panels, which were delivered to Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary between February and April 2024
- After the Canadia Border Services Agency detained its goods, the company provided “thousands of pages” of information to the agency about the production of the panels from various stages of the supply chain. The goods were nevertheless detained for several months.
- Charge Solar Renewables claims that due to the long wait, many customers cancelled orders. This has significantly impacted its market share in Canada. The company also claims that competitors that imported the same or similar goods, sometimes from the same supplier, were not subject to investigations or detentions.
- The case is ongoing.
- LONGi Green Energy Technology was named in Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) Forced Labour Lab report In Broad Daylight – Uyghur forced labour and global solar supply chains. The report states that the company does not manufacture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), but it does run solar power generation plants and engage in poverty alleviation programmes in the region. The company is not named in the US Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List.