U.S. Adds Chinese Genomics Giant BGI and Two Affiliates to Forced-Labor Import Ban List, Citing Genetic Testing in Xinjiang

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday added three related Chinese genomics companies to the list of entities whose goods are presumed to be made with forced labor, saying the companies support genetic testing used by the government of China's Xinjiang region against Uyghurs and other minority groups.

The companies are Shenzhen BGI Technology Co., Ltd., known as BGI Group; BGI Genomics Co., Ltd.; and MGI Tech Co., Ltd., according to a notice filed for public inspection in the Federal Register on Wednesday and scheduled to publish Thursday. DHS made the additions on behalf of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, which it chairs.

What the UFLPA Entity List Notice Says

The notice says the U.S. government "has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information," that BGI Genomics conducts genetic testing in Xinjiang "alongside the government of the XUAR and as a part of its government initiatives," and that MGI "has provisioned genetic testing capacity to the XUAR government." It says such testing "is utilized to facilitate the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receiving of forced labor or Uyghurs Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang."

BGI Group is the controlling shareholder of BGI Genomics, and MGI is under the control of the same ultimate controlling shareholder, according to the notice. It describes BGI Group as a sequencing company that "built and manages the China National GeneBank," a national biological data and sample repository.

All three were added under the law's list of entities working with the Xinjiang government on forced labor. BGI Genomics and BGI Group were also added to a second list, of entities that source material from Xinjiang. The notice says BGI Group conducts genetic testing "including on genetic material of human beings sourced from the XUAR," and that BGI Genomics tests genetic material of plants, animals and bacterial diseases sourced from the region.

In its announcement, DHS said the three companies "constitute one of the largest advanced gene-sequencing and genetic-material collection enterprises in the world" and that the regional system uses data "derived from genetic material" to monitor ethnic minorities.

"Today, DHS is barring three Chinese DNA testing companies from allowing their goods to enter the United States unless importers can meet the law's requirements," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in the release.

What Changes for Importers

Starting Oct. 29, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by the three companies are prohibited from entering the United States, DHS said. Importers can overcome it only by showing, under the law's requirements, that the goods were not made with forced labor.

With the additions, the UFLPA Entity List includes 190 entities, according to the notice. DHS added 43 entities on July 31, which it called the largest single expansion since the list was created.

Rob Law, the DHS under secretary who chairs the task force, said in the release that "goods produced by these companies will not be allowed entry unless they can prove that they do not take part in the forced labor apparatus in Xinjiang."

The notice and the DHS release did not include a response from the companies.

Sources: Department of Homeland Security, "Notice Regarding the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List," Federal Register public inspection document 2026-22094, filed Oct. 28, 2026 (https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-22094.pdf); DHS press release, "Under President Trump, DHS Blocks Chinese Genomics Companies Linked to Forced Labor," Oct. 28, 2026 (https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/10/28/under-president-trump-dhs-blocks-chinese-genomics-companies-linked-forced-labor); DHS UFLPA Entity List (https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa-entity-list); Cover photo: BGI Group headquarters, Shenzhen (Scotted400, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons).