I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5393 

To provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with authority to more 

aggressively enforce trade laws relating to textile or apparel articles, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2010 

Mr. KISSELL (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. COBLE, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. HARE, Mr. SCHAUER, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

MCHENRY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 

ETHERIDGE, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. MCCOTTER, Ms. FOXX, Mr. 

INGLIS, Ms. SUTTON, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. LINDA T. 

SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. HOLDEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 

and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with authority to more aggressively enforce trade laws relating to 

textile or apparel articles, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Textile Enforcement and Security Act of 2010’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Textile or apparel article defined. 

TITLE I—ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES FOR U.S. CUSTOMS AND 

BORDER PROTECTION 

Sec. 101. Findings. 

Sec. 102. Seizure and forfeiture of certain textile or apparel articles and use 

of amounts from fines, penalties, and forfeitures. 

Sec. 103. Increase in certain TAPP positions and Import Specialist positions 

and biennial review of staff levels. 

Sec. 104. Implementation report. 

Sec. 105. Definitions. 

TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930 

Sec. 201. Additional requirements for importation of textile or apparel articles. 

Sec. 202. Definition of person for penalties for fraud, gross negligence, and 

negligence relating to import documentation. 

Sec. 203. Special provisions regarding certain violations relating to import documentation. 

Sec. 204. Electronic preference verification system for origin of textile or apparel articles under CAFTA, NAFTA, and other free trade 

agreements. 

Sec. 205. Nonresident importer declaration program for textile or apparel articles. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Establishment of Office of Textile and Apparel Trade Enforcement 

within the Department of Justice. 

3 SEC. 2. TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTICLE DEFINED. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act, the term ‘‘textile or 

5 apparel article’’ means any of the following: 

6 (1) Any good classifiable in chapters 50 

7 through 63 of the HTS. 

8 (2) Any good classifiable under one of the fol9 lowing HTS headings or subheadings: 

10 (A) 3005.90. 

11 (B) 3921.12.15. 


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1 (C) 3921.13.15. 

2 (D) 3921.90.2550. 

3 (E) 4202.12.40–80. 

4 (F) 4202.22.40–80. 

5 (G) 4202.32.40–95. 

6 (H) 4202.92.05. 

7 (I) 4202.92.15–30. 

8 (J) 4202.92.60–90. 

9 (K) 6405.20.60. 

10 (L) 6406.10.77. 

11 (M) 6406.10.90. 

12 (N) 6406.99.15. 

13 (O) 6501. 

14 (P) 6502. 

15 (Q) 6504. 

16 (R) 6505.90. 

17 (S) 6601.10–99. 

18 (T) 7019.19.15. 

19 (U) 7019.19.28. 

20 (V) 7019.40–59. 

21 (W) 8708.21. 

22 (X) 8804. 

23 (Y) 9113.90.40. 

24 (Z) 9404.90. 

25 (AA) 9612.10.9010. 


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1 (b) HTS DEFINED.—In subsection (a), the term 

2 ‘‘HTS’’ means the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

3 United States. 

4 TITLE I—ADDITIONAL AUTHORI5 TIES FOR U.S. CUSTOMS AND 

6 BORDER PROTECTION 

7 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The Textile and Apparel Policy and Pro10 grams division of the Office of International Trade 

11 within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (herein12 after in this title referred to as the ‘‘TAPP’’) has, 

13 with respect to textile or apparel articles, the author14 ity to direct the implementation and enforcement of 

15 free trade agreements, multilateral agreements, bi16 lateral textile agreements, preference programs, and 

17 all other trade legislation affecting textiles and ap18 parel articles. 

19 (2) The primary focus of the TAPP is to ensure 

20 the effective implementation of all trade enforcement 

21 activities involving textile or apparel articles, includ22 ing preventing origin fraud, preventing circumven23 tion of the requirements to obtain preferential trade 

24 treatment under free trade agreements and trade 

25 preference programs in order to avoid quotas or duVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:54 May 26, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5393.IH H5393

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1 ties, providing for the collection of appropriate du2 ties, and providing for the correct valuation of arti3 cles. 

4 (3) The TAPP headquarters office is currently 

5 below its optimal staffing levels and the TAPP per6 sonnel efforts should be targeted at retaining senior 

7 staff and hiring new qualified personnel so that the 

8 division is brought up to optimal staffing levels. 

9 These positions should be designated as not only pol10 icy positions, but enforcement positions as well. 

11 (4) The TAPP should implement special oper12 ations, Textile Product Verification Teams (herein13 after in this title referred to as ‘‘TPVTs’’), and 

14 other actions under U.S. Customs and Border Pro15 tection authority to ensure enforcement of trade 

16 laws relating to imports of textile or apparel articles 

17 in a timely manner as concerns arise, specifically as 

18 they relate to enforcement of the North American 

19 Free Trade Agreement, the Dominican Republic20 Central America-United States Free Trade Agree21 ment, and all other free trade agreements and pref22 erence programs, in order to prevent transshipments 

23 and origin fraud. 

24 (5) U.S. Customs and Border Protection should 

25 ensure that seizures, detentions, special operations, 


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1 and TPVTs remain the primary focus of its textile 

2 or apparel articles enforcement efforts. 

3 SEC. 102. SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF CERTAIN TEXTILE 

4 OR APPAREL ARTICLES AND USE OF 

5 AMOUNTS FROM FINES, PENALTIES, AND 

6 FORFEITURES. 

7 (a) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.—The following pen8 alties shall apply with respect to an importation of a tex9 tile or apparel article: 

10 (1) In the case of importation for which a trade 

11 preference has been claimed and with respect to 

12 which the textile or apparel article has been either 

13 misdescribed on entry as to country of origin or for 

14 which the importer of record does not verify actual 

15 country of origin, for purposes of avoiding a duty or 

16 other obligation to the United States Government, 

17 the textile or apparel article shall be subject to sei18 zure and forfeiture consistent with United States 

19 customs laws. 

20 (2) In the case of importation by an importer 

21 of record who provides false information with respect 

22 to the physical address of the importer or who does 

23 not meet the requirements of section 484(a)(2)(B) 

24 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484 

25 (a)(2)(B)), the textile or apparel article shall be subVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:54 May 26, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5393.IH H5393

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1 ject to seizure and forfeiture consistent with United 

2 States customs laws. 

3 (b) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM FINES, PENALTIES, 

4 AND FORFEITURES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

7 or the Secretary of the Treasury— 

8 (A) shall use amounts from fines, pen9 alties, and forfeitures of property for violations 

10 of any law regarding the import of textile or ap11 parel articles enforced by the Secretary of 

12 Homeland Security to pay for expenses directly 

13 related to investigations of, and civil or criminal 

14 enforcement proceedings on, violations of any 

15 law regarding the import of textile or apparel 

16 articles, including any necessary expenses for 

17 equipment, training, travel, witnesses, and con18 tracting services directly related to such inves19 tigations or proceedings; and 

20 (B) may use amounts from fines, penalties, 

21 and forfeitures of property for violations of any 

22 law regarding the import of textile or apparel 

23 articles enforced by the Secretary of Homeland 

24 Security to pay for a reward of not less than 20 

25 percent of the amount of the fine, penalty, or 


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1 forfeiture of property collected or $20,000, 

2 whichever is the lesser amount, to any person 

3 who furnishes information that leads to an ar4 rest, conviction, civil penalty assessment, or for5 feiture of property for any violation of any law 

6 regarding the import of textile or apparel arti7 cles enforced by the Secretary. 

8 (2) LIABILITY FOR STORAGE AND DISPOSAL

9 COSTS.—Any person found in an administrative or 

10 judicial proceeding to have violated a law regarding 

11 the import of textile or apparel articles enforced by 

12 the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Secretary 

13 of the Treasury shall be liable for the cost incurred 

14 in the storage and disposal of any textile or apparel 

15 articles seized in connection with the violation. 

16 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts from 

17 fines, penalties, and forfeitures of property for viola18 tions of any law regarding the import of textile or 

19 apparel articles enforced by the Secretary of Home20 land Security or the Secretary of the Treasury to 

21 pay for expenses described in paragraph (1)(A) or a 

22 reward described in paragraph (1)(B) are in addi23 tion to amounts otherwise available for such pur24 poses. 


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1 SEC. 103. INCREASE IN CERTAIN TAPP POSITIONS AND IM2 PORT SPECIALIST POSITIONS AND BIENNIAL 

3 REVIEW OF STAFF LEVELS. 

4 (a) INCREASE IN CERTAIN TAPP POSITIONS.—As 

5 soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this 

6 Act, the Commissioner shall ensure that— 

7 (1) the Textile Operations Branch (or any suc8 cessor or related Branch) of the TAPP shall consist 

9 of, at a minimum, one Branch Chief and seven Op10 erations Staff, of which not less than one Operations 

11 Staff shall be assigned to each of three different 

12 CAFTA–DR countries and not less than one Oper13 ations Staff shall be assigned to the People’s Repub14 lic of China for purposes of Customs services and 

15 textile or apparel preference verification; 

16 (2) the Textile/Apparel Policy Branch (or any 

17 successor or related Branch) of the TAPP shall con18 sist of, at a minimum, one Branch Chief and three 

19 Operations Staff and two textile trade analysts; and 

20 (3) the Quota Branch (or any successor or re21 lated Branch) of the TAPP shall consist of, at a 

22 minimum, one Branch Chief and four Operations 

23 Staff. 

24 (b) INCREASE IN CERTAIN IMPORT SPECIALIST POSI25 TIONS.—As soon as practicable after the date of the enact26 ment of this Act, the Commissioner shall allocate, to the 


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1 15 largest (by value of entries) United States ports of 

2 entry for textile or apparel articles, Import Specialists that 

3 are trained in fraud relating to imports of textile or ap4 parel articles so that the level of Import Specialist posi5 tions is not less than 150 percent of the level of Import 

6 Specialist positions (as of the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act) at such ports of entry. 

8 (c) BIENNIAL REVIEW OF STAFF LEVELS.—Not 

9 later than two years after the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act, and every two years thereafter, the Commissioner 

11 shall review the TAPP staff levels and determine whether 

12 there is need for additional staff to carry out the duties 

13 of the TAPP. 

14 (d) CAFTA–DR COUNTRY DEFINED.—In this sec15 tion, the term ‘‘CAFTA–DR country’’ has the meaning 

16 given the term in section 3(2) of the Dominican Republic17 Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement 

18 Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4002(2)). 

19 SEC. 104. IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. 

20 Not later than one year after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Commissioner shall transmit to Con22 gress a report on the implementation of this title. 

23 SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS. 

24 For purposes of this title: 


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1 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis2 sioner’’ means the Commissioner responsible for 

3 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

4 (2) ENTER; ENTRY.—The terms ‘‘enter’’ and 

5 ‘‘entry’’ refer to the entry, or withdrawal from ware6 house for consumption, in the customs territory of 

7 the United States. 

8 (3) IMPORTER OF RECORD.—The term ‘‘im9 porter of record’’ has the meaning given the term in 

10 section 484 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

11 1484). 

12 (4) SPECIAL OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘special 

13 operations’’ means an initiative that is— 

14 (A) implemented to address specific in15 stances of transactions that do not comply with 

16 United States trade laws with respect to textile 

17 or apparel articles; 

18 (B) used to address any import violations 

19 involving textile or apparel articles, including 

20 fraud, quota requirements, revenue collection, 

21 trade preferences or requirements under free 

22 trade agreements, product safety, anti-dumping 

23 and countervailing duties, or intellectual prop24 erty rights; or 


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1 (C) initiated to address a singular instance 

2 or a pattern of high-risk behavior, involving a 

3 particular commodity or other trade issue, in4 cluding valuation, origin fraud, or trade pref5 erence violation, on the part of a country, im6 porter, or manufacturer. 

7 (5) TAPP.—The term ‘‘TAPP’’ means the Tex8 tile and Apparel Policy and Programs division of the 

9 Office of International Trade within U.S. Customs 

10 and Border Protection. 

11 (6) TPVTS.—The term ‘‘TPVTs’’ means Tex12 tile Product Verification Teams. 

13 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

14 TARIFF ACT OF 1930 

15 SEC. 201. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPORTATION 

16 OF TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTICLES. 

17 (a) AFFIDAVIT REQUIREMENT.—Section 484(a) of 

18 the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484(a)) is amended 

19 by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(3) AFFIDAVIT REQUIREMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The documentation or 

22 information required under paragraph (1) with 

23 respect to imported textile or apparel articles 

24 shall include an affidavit with respect to each 


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1 importation of such merchandise that includes 

2 the information described in subparagraph (B). 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The in4 formation described in this paragraph is the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(i) The physical address of the man7 ufacturer. 

8 ‘‘(ii) The contact person’s name and 

9 complete contact information. 

10 ‘‘(iii) A description of the articles, 

11 such as fiber content, yarn content, fabric 

12 type. 

13 ‘‘(iv) The purchase order or invoice 

14 number issued for the sale with quantities 

15 included. 

16 ‘‘(v) The date of sale or shipment of 

17 the articles. 

18 ‘‘(vi) If available, the container num19 ber and bill of lading number for the arti20 cles delivered to the customer. 

21 ‘‘(C) FORM.—The affidavit required under 

22 this paragraph may be submitted to U.S. Cus23 toms and Border Protection in electronic form. 

24 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

25 term ‘textile or apparel article’ has the meaning 


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1 given the term in section 2 of the Textile En2 forcement and Security Act of 2010.’’. 

3 (b) BONDING REQUIREMENT.—Section 623(b) of the 

4 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1623(b)) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(5) In the case of importation of textile or ap7 parel articles, the Secretary of the Treasury shall by 

8 regulation or specific instruction require, or author9 ize Customs officers to require, the amount of the 

10 bond to include amounts equal to any duties, fees, 

11 and penalties estimated to be payable on such arti12 cles. For purposes of this paragraph, amounts equal 

13 to any penalties estimated to be payable on such ar14 ticles shall be based on a risk assessment of the im15 porter. In this paragraph, the term ‘textile or ap16 parel article’ has the meaning given the term in sec17 tion 2 of the Textile Enforcement and Security Act 

18 of 2010.’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 subsections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to articles 

21 entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, 

22 on or after the date that is 180 days after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 202. DEFINITION OF PERSON FOR PENALTIES FOR 

2 FRAUD, GROSS NEGLIGENCE, AND NEG3 LIGENCE RELATING TO IMPORT DOCU4 MENTATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 592(a)(1) of the Tariff 

6 Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1592(a)(1)) is amended in the 

7 matter preceding subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘no per8 son’’ and inserting ‘‘no producer, manufacturer, supplier, 

9 seller, importer, exporter, or other person’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 592A(a)(1) 

11 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1592a(a)(1)) is 

12 amended by inserting ‘‘importer,’’ after ‘‘exporter,’’. 

13 SEC. 203. SPECIAL PROVISIONS REGARDING CERTAIN VIO14 LATIONS RELATING TO IMPORT DOCUMENTA15 TION. 

16 (a) PUBLICATION OF NAMES OF CERTAIN VIOLA17 TORS.—Section 592A(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

18 U.S.C. 1592a(a)(1)), as amended by this Act, is further 

19 amended in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by 

20 striking ‘‘is authorized to’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

21 (b) LIST OF HIGH-RISK COUNTRIES.—Section 

22 592A(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

23 1592a(b)(1)) is amended in the first sentence— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘is authorized to’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘shall’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after ‘‘quotas’’ the following: 

2 ‘‘or duties’’. 

3 SEC. 204. ELECTRONIC PREFERENCE VERIFICATION SYS4 TEM FOR ORIGIN OF TEXTILE OR APPAREL 

5 ARTICLES UNDER CAFTA, NAFTA, AND OTHER 

6 FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, act9 ing through the Commissioner responsible for U.S. Cus10 toms and Border Protection and in coordination with the 

11 head of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the Depart12 ment of Commerce, shall establish an electronic 

13 verification system for tracking textile or apparel articles 

14 imported or exported under the Dominican Republic-Cen15 tral America-United States Free Trade Agreement, the 

16 North American Free Trade Agreement, or any other free 

17 trade agreement to which the United States is a party to 

18 ensure compliance with the respective requirements of 

19 such agreements. 

20 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President shall seek to 

21 enter into consultations and agreements as appropriate 

22 with the government of each foreign country that is party 

23 to any agreement described in subsection (a) for purposes 

24 of implementing the system established under subsection 

25 (a). 


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1 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The system established 

2 under subsection (a) shall ensure that proprietary infor3 mation, such as information about supply chain partici4 pants, are coded so that only U.S. Customs and Border 

5 Protection and the Office of Textiles and Apparel per6 sonnel can access such information. 

7 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the President should seek to make the integra9 tion of the system established under subsection (a) in fu10 ture free trade agreements a priority in negotiations for 

11 such agreements. 

12 SEC. 205. NONRESIDENT IMPORTER DECLARATION PRO13 GRAM FOR TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTICLES. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The President 

15 shall establish and maintain a nonresident importer dec16 laration program with respect to the importation of textile 

17 or apparel articles. The program shall require nonresident 

18 importers of textile or apparel articles to provide the infor19 mation required under subsection (b) and declare the in20 formation required under subsection (c), and require that 

21 such information accompany the entry summary docu22 mentation for such textile or apparel articles. 

23 (b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The President shall 

24 require the following information to be submitted by any 


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1 nonresident importer seeking to import textile or apparel 

2 articles: 

3 (1) An identification of a resident agent in the 

4 State in which the port of entry is located who is au5 thorized to accept service of process against the non6 resident importer in connection with the importation 

7 of the textile or apparel articles. 

8 (2) A certification that the resident agent de9 scribed in paragraph (1) has assets in the United 

10 States in sufficient amounts for the purpose of en11 suring the payment of any additional loss of revenue 

12 not covered by any surety bond or for any civil pen13 alties levied by the Federal Government in connec14 tion with the importation of the textile or apparel 

15 articles. 

16 (3) A copy of the commercial invoice accom17 panying the shipment of the textile or apparel arti18 cles, including the name, address, and contact infor19 mation for each person in the transaction, such as 

20 the trading house, the freight forwarder, and the ul21 timate purchaser of the goods. 

22 (c) DECLARATIONS REQUIRED.—Pursuant to proce23 dures prescribed by the President, any nonresident im24 porter seeking to import textile or apparel articles shall 

25 declare the following: 


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1 (1) The nonresident importer has secured a 

2 bond in connection with the importation of the tex3 tile or apparel articles as required by section 

4 623(b)(5) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (as added by 

5 section 201(b) of this Act). 

6 (2) The nonresident importer has established a 

7 power of attorney in connection with the importation 

8 of the textile or apparel articles. 

9 (d) PENALTIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

11 person to import into the United States textile or 

12 apparel articles in knowing violation of this section. 

13 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Any person who vio14 lates paragraph (1) shall be liable for a civil penalty 

15 of not more than $50,000 for each such violation. 

16 (3) OTHER PENALTIES.—In addition to the 

17 penalties provided for in paragraph (2), any viola18 tion of this section that violates any other customs 

19 law of the United States shall be subject to any ap20 plicable civil and criminal penalty, including seizure 

21 and forfeiture, that may be imposed under such cus22 toms law or title 18, United States Code, with re23 spect to the importation of textile or apparel articles. 

24 (e) NONRESIDENT IMPORTER DEFINED.—In this 

25 section, the term ‘‘nonresident importer’’ means— 


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1 (1) an individual that is not a citizen of the 

2 United States or an alien lawfully admitted for per3 manent residence in the United States; or 

4 (2) a partnership, corporation, or other com5 mercial entity that is not organized under the laws 

6 of a jurisdiction within the customs territory of the 

7 United States (as such term is defined in General 

8 Note 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

9 United States) or in the Virgin Islands of the United 

10 States. 

11 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

12 PROVISIONS 

13 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF TEXTILE AND AP14 PAREL TRADE ENFORCEMENT WITHIN THE 

15 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General shall 

17 establish within the Department of Justice the Office of 

18 Textile and Apparel Trade Enforcement. 

19 (b) TIMING.—The Attorney General shall establish 

20 the Office by not later than the end of the 180-day period 

21 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (c) STAFF.—The Office shall have a director, at least 

23 three attorneys, and such other staff as may be necessary. 


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1 (d) FUNCTIONS.—The Office shall be responsible for 

2 carrying out all functions of the Department of Justice 

3 relating to relevant enforcement cases. 

4 (e) VENUE.—Notwithstanding the provisions of chap5 ter 87 of title 28, United States Code, relating to venue, 

6 a relevant enforcement case may be prosecuted only in the 

7 United States District Court for the Middle District of 

8 North Carolina. 

9 (f) RELEVANT ENFORCEMENT CASES.—In this sec10 tion, a case is a ‘‘relevant enforcement case’’ if the case— 

11 (1) is referred to the Department of Justice by 

12 the Department of Homeland Security; and 

13 (2) relates to the enforcement of laws with re14 spect to the importation of textile or apparel articles. 

Æ 


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