The US Congress, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and textile manufacturers are pursuing joint efforts to combat illegal transshipments of textile and apparel imports.

The House of Representatives and the Senate have passed legislation appropriating more than $4 million towards textile and apparel trade-enforcement efforts. While there are minor differences between the two versions of the legislation, the issues are expected to be resolved easily and the funds made available in the coming fiscal year.

Meanwhile, textile production and verification teams from CBP have been inspecting a number of overseas facilities and have found quite a few violations and suspicious operations. So far this year, some 100 factories have been visited in Swaziland, Vietnam, Egypt and South Africa; and 11 factories have been shut down. In addition, some 30 more are on a “high risk” list, and products from those plants will be monitored closely to determine if the operations are in violation of trade agreements.

In an effort to assist in the government’s actions, the Washington-based National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is encouraging its members to report any questionable products they encounter in the market to NCTO staff, so information can be relayed to appropriate government officials.

At a recent meeting with NCTO officials, Janet Labuda, director, textile enforcement and operations, CBP, told members the textile industry and the government are “stakeholders” in the battle against illegal transshipments. She said the textile market is one of the best sources for information that might be useful to the government in its enforcement efforts.