CUSTOMS LISTS FIRMS VIOLATING TEXTILE TRANSSHIPMENT, ORIGIN RULES

CUSTOMS LISTS FIRMS VIOLATING TEXTILE TRANSSHIPMENT, ORIGIN RULES    U.S. Customs has published the latest list of overseas firms that have been involved in illegal textile transshipments of textile and apparel to the United States.
   The agency assessed penalty claims under section 592A of the 1930 Tariff Act against 23 firms, located in Hong Kong and Macau. The violations range from using false importer of record documents and counterfeit visas to stitching false labels in apparel. The practice of transshipment is often used to beat stringent U.S. textile quotas or high rates of import duties.
   If a penalty claim is issued to a firm and no petition is filed by the firm in response, Customs is authorized to publish the company’s name and known address in a semiannual list in the Federal Register. The firm may appeal to the Treasury Department to have its name removed from the list, if it is found that the firm has not committed any of transshipment violations for more than three years after the date of its name being published.
   U.S. importers are urged to exercise “reasonable care” when sourcing goods from any of these listed entities “to ensure that the textile and apparel are accompanied by documentation, packaging, and labeling that are accurate as to its origin,” Customs said.
   The agency’s Office of Field Operations in Washington also requests the help of the import industry to locate the whereabouts of 11 Hong Kong firms concerning alleged textile transshipment violations. Customs has published these firms’ last known addresses along with the new list of violators.
   For a complete list of the firms in violation of U.S. textile transshipment and country of origin rules, access online: https://frwebgate2.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=7121530592+119+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve.