Congress bans import of forced labor products

A bill headed for President Barack Obama this week includes a provision that would ban U.S. imports of fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, gold mined by children in Africa and garments sewn by abused women in Bangladesh, closing a loophole in an 85-year-old tariff law that has failed to keep products of forced and child labor out of America.

AP tracked fish and shrimp from people locked in cages and factories to supply chains of top retailers and restaurants, from supermarket chains like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods to restaurants including Red Lobster.

On Capitol Hill, the AP investigation, along with other press reports and political advocacy, helped pressure lawmakers "to finally strike this obscene provision of U.S. law," said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon democrat.

If signed by President Obama, imports of a Labor Department list of more than 350 goods produced by child or forced labor — cotton from Kazakhstan, wheat from Pakistan, lobsters from Honduras — may now face federal law enforcement.