II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 892 

To provide the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection, and the Department of the Treasury with authority to more 

aggressively enforce customs and trade laws relating to textile and apparel articles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of 

the Treasury with authority to more aggressively enforce 

customs and trade laws relating to textile and 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Textile Enforcement and Security Act of 2015’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Textile or apparel article defined. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Findings. 

Sec. 5. Sense of Congress. 

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

BORDER PROTECTION 

Sec. 101. Seizure and forfeiture of certain textile or apparel articles and use 

of amounts from fines, penalties, and forfeitures. 

Sec. 102. Increase in certain TTA positions and import specialist positions, assignment of certain operations staff, and biennial review of 

staff levels. 

TITLE II—ENTRY VERIFICATION PROVISIONS 

Sec. 201. Special provisions regarding certain violations relating to import documentation. 

Sec. 202. Electronic preference verification system for origin of textile or apparel articles under CAFTA–DR, NAFTA, and other free 

trade agreements. 

Sec. 203. Establishment of textile and apparel new importer program. 

Sec. 204. Nonresident importer declaration program for textile or apparel articles. 

TITLE III—ESTABLISHMENT OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL 

MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLIER REGISTRY 

Sec. 301. Establishment of textile and apparel manufacturing and supplier registry. 

TITLE IV—IMPLEMENTATION REPORT 

Sec. 401. Implementation report. 

1 SEC. 2. TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTICLE DEFINED. 

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

3 apparel article’’ means any of the following: 

4 (1) Any good classifiable under chapters 50 

5 through 63 of the HTS. 

6 (2) Any good classifiable under one of the fol7 lowing HTS headings or subheadings: 

8 (A) 3005.90. 

9 (B) 3921.12.15. 

10 (C) 3921.13.15. 


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1 (D) 3921.90.11. 

2 (E) 3921.90.15. 

3 (F) 3921.90.19. 

4 (G) 3921.90.25. 

5 (H) 3921.90.29. 

6 (I) 3921.90.40. 

7 (J) 6601. 

8 (K) 7019.19.15. 

9 (L) 7019.19.28. 

10 (M) 7019.40 through 7019.59. 

11 (N) 8708.21.00. 

12 (O) 9404.30. 

13 (P) 9404.90. 

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

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

16 United States. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) CAFTA–DR COUNTRY.—The term 

20 ‘‘CAFTA–DR country’’ has the meaning given such 

21 term in section 3(2) of the Dominican Republic-Cen22 tral America-United States Free Trade Agreement 

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

24 (2) CEE.—The term ‘‘CEE’’ means the Center 

25 of Excellence and Expertise for Apparel, Footwear, 


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1 and Textiles of U.S. Customs and Border Protec2 tion. 

3 (3) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis4 sioner’’ means the Commissioner responsible for 

5 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

6 (4) DEDICATED.—The term ‘‘dedicated’’ 

7 means, with respect to an import specialist, that the 

8 import specialist focuses solely on the import of tex9 tile or apparel articles. 

10 (5) ENTER; ENTRY.—The terms ‘‘enter’’ and 

11 ‘‘entry’’ refer to the entry, or withdrawal from ware12 house for consumption, of a textile or apparel article 

13 in the customs territory of the United States. 

14 (6) IMPORTER.—The term ‘‘importer’’ means 

15 one of the parties qualifying as an importer of 

16 record under section 484(a)(2)(B) of the Tariff Act 

17 of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(B)). 

18 (7) NEW IMPORTER.—The term ‘‘new im19 porter’’ means an importer with fewer than 3 years 

20 of history of importing textile or apparel articles into 

21 the United States. For purposes of this paragraph, 

22 a new importer that merges with or is purchased by 

23 another importer, or is otherwise altered, shall be 

24 considered to remain a new importer until such time 

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1 sioner of such merger, purchase, or other alteration 

2 for a determination regarding whether such new im3 porter may be treated as an importer. 

4 (8) NONRESIDENT IMPORTER.—The term ‘‘non5 resident importer’’ means an importer who is— 

6 (A) an individual who is not a citizen of 

7 the United States or an alien lawfully admitted 

8 for permanent residence in the United States; 

9 or 

10 (B) a partnership, corporation, or other 

11 commercial entity that is not organized under 

12 the laws of a jurisdiction within the customs 

13 territory of the United States (as such term is 

14 defined in General Note 2 of the Harmonized 

15 Tariff Schedule of the United States) or in the 

16 Virgin Islands of the United States. 

17 (9) SPECIAL OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘special 

18 operations’’ means an initiative that is— 

19 (A) implemented to address specific in20 stances of transactions that do not comply with 

21 the customs and trade laws of the United 

22 States with respect to textile or apparel articles; 

23 (B) used to address any import violations 

24 involving textile or apparel articles, including 

25 fraud, quota requirements, revenue collection, 


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1 trade preferences or requirements under free 

2 trade agreements, product safety, antidumping 

3 and countervailing duties, or intellectual prop4 erty rights; or 

5 (C) initiated to address a singular instance 

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

7 particular commodity or other trade issue, in8 cluding valuation, origin fraud, or trade pref9 erence violation, on the part of a country, im10 porter, shipper, exporter, customs broker, 

11 freight forwarder, or manufacturer. 

12 (10) TTA.—The term ‘‘TTA’’ means the Tex13 tile and Trade Agreements division of the Office of 

14 International Trade within U.S. Customs and Bor15 der Protection. 

16 (11) TPVTS.—The term ‘‘TPVTs’’ means Tex17 tile Product Verification Teams. 

18 (12) TRAINED.—The term ‘‘trained’’ means, 

19 with respect to an import specialist, that such im20 port specialist has received, at least during the last 

21 3 years, education or training related to the import 

22 of textile or apparel articles. 

23 SEC. 4. FINDINGS. 

24 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The fraudulent or illegal importation of tex2 tile and apparel articles into the United States re3 sults in significant revenue loss to the Department 

4 of the Treasury. 

5 (2) The Textile and Trade Agreements division 

6 of the Office of International Trade within U.S. 

7 Customs and Border Protection or any subsequent 

8 division has, with respect to textile or apparel arti9 cles, the primary responsibility to ensure the proper 

10 enforcement of all customs and trade laws, rules, 

11 and regulations affecting textile and apparel articles. 

12 (3) The TTA has the authority to direct the im13 plementation and enforcement of free trade agree14 ments, multilateral agreements, bilateral textile 

15 agreements, trade preference programs, and all 

16 other customs and trade laws affecting textiles and 

17 apparel articles. 

18 (4) The primary focus of the TTA is to ensure 

19 the effective implementation of all trade enforcement 

20 activities involving textile or apparel articles with its 

21 principal focus to prevent circumvention of the re22 quirements to obtain preferential trade treatment 

23 under free trade agreements and trade preference 

24 programs in order to avoid quotas or duties. 


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1 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection and 

4 the TTA should be involved in supporting the nego5 tiation of enforcement provisions of trade preference 

6 programs and free trade agreements affecting tex7 tiles and apparel articles; 

8 (2) the TTA should conduct outreach to other 

9 Federal departments and agencies involved in overall 

10 trade policy, such as the Department of Commerce 

11 and the Office of the United States Trade Rep12 resentative; 

13 (3) the TTA should develop policies and proce14 dures that provide guidance to the CEE and to the 

15 ports of entry of textile and apparel articles, includ16 ing training of officials of U.S. Customs and Border 

17 Protection; 

18 (4) officials of the TTA should coordinate and 

19 collaborate with officials of the CEE to establish en20 forcement priorities, based on risk assessments, and 

21 a national enforcement response; 

22 (5) the TTA headquarters office is currently 

23 below its optimal staffing levels and the TTA per24 sonnel efforts should be targeted at retaining senior 

25 staff and hiring new qualified personnel so that the 

26 division is brought up to optimal staffing levels, and 


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1 these positions should be designated as not only pol2 icy positions, but enforcement positions as well; 

3 (6) the TTA should implement special oper4 ations, Textile Product Verification Teams, and 

5 other actions under U.S. Customs and Border Pro6 tection authority to ensure enforcement of customs 

7 and trade laws relating to imports of textile or ap8 parel articles in a timely manner as concerns arise, 

9 particularly as such concerns relate to enforcement 

10 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, 

11 signed at Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City De12 cember 8, 11, 14 and 17, 1992, the Dominican Re13 public-Central America-United States Free Trade 

14 Agreement, signed at Washington August 5, 2004, 

15 and all other free trade agreements and trade pref16 erence programs, in order to prevent transshipments 

17 and origin fraud; 

18 (7) officials of the TTA should coordinate and 

19 collaborate with foreign government counterparts to 

20 ensure effective enforcement of textile and apparel 

21 articles; and 

22 (8) U.S. Customs and Border Protection should 

23 ensure that seizures, detentions, special operations, 

24 and TPVTs remain the primary focus of its enforce25 ment efforts relating to textile and apparel articles. 


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1 TITLE I—ADDITIONAL AUTHORI2 TIES FOR U.S. CUSTOMS AND 

3 BORDER PROTECTION 

4 SEC. 101. SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF CERTAIN TEXTILE 

5 OR APPAREL ARTICLES AND USE OF 

6 AMOUNTS FROM FINES, PENALTIES, AND 

7 FORFEITURES. 

8 (a) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The following textile or ap10 parel articles shall be subject to seizure and for11 feiture in accordance with the customs and trade 

12 laws of the United States and title 18, United States 

13 Code: 

14 (A) Any textile or apparel article imported 

15 into the United States— 

16 (i) for which a trade preference has 

17 been claimed; and 

18 (ii) that has been either misdescribed 

19 on entry as to country of origin or for 

20 which the importer does not verify actual 

21 country of origin, for purposes of avoiding 

22 a duty or other obligation to the United 

23 States Government, including— 

24 (I) any textile or apparel article 

25 accompanied by documentation that 


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1 indicates a false or fraudulent country 

2 of origin or source of textile or ap3 parel articles; and 

4 (II) any textile or apparel article 

5 accompanied by a counterfeit visa, li6 cense, permit, bill of lading, or similar 

7 documentation that is subsequently 

8 used by the importer for entry of tex9 tile or apparel articles. 

10 (B) A textile or apparel article imported 

11 into the United States by an importer who pro12 vides false information with respect to the phys13 ical address of the importer or who does not 

14 meet the requirements of section 484(a)(2)(B) 

15 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

16 1484(a)(2)(B)). 

17 (2) EXCEPTION.—A clerical error shall not be 

18 considered a violation of paragraph (1) unless such 

19 error is part of a pattern of negligent conduct. 

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

21 AND FORFEITURES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

23 provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Secu24 rity, the Commissioner, or the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury, as applicable— 


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1 (A) shall use amounts from fines, pen2 alties, and forfeitures of property for violations 

3 of any law regarding the import of textile or ap4 parel articles enforced by the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security or the Secretary of the 

6 Treasury to pay for— 

7 (i) expenses directly related to special 

8 operations, TPVTs, and other enforcement 

9 actions; 

10 (ii) expenses related to training and 

11 education for applicable revenue positions, 

12 including import specialists, international 

13 trade specialists, and auditors who partici14 pate in the enforcement of the customs 

15 and trade laws of the United States with 

16 respect to the export or import of textile or 

17 apparel articles; and 

18 (iii) implementation of the provisions 

19 of this Act; 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, the Commissioner, or the Secretary of 

25 the Treasury to pay for a reward of not less 


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1 than 20 percent of the amount of the fine or 

2 penalty collected, or the value of the property 

3 forfeited, or $20,000, whichever is the lesser 

4 amount, to any person who furnishes informa5 tion that leads to an arrest, conviction, civil 

6 penalty assessment, or forfeiture of property for 

7 any violation of any law regarding the import of 

8 textile or apparel articles enforced by the Sec9 retary of Homeland Security, the Commis10 sioner, or the Secretary of the Treasury. 

11 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts de12 scribed in paragraph (1) and used to pay for ex13 penses described in subparagraph (A) of that para14 graph or a reward described in subparagraph (B) of 

15 that paragraph are in addition to amounts otherwise 

16 available for such purposes. 

17 SEC. 102. INCREASE IN CERTAIN TTA POSITIONS AND IM18 PORT SPECIALIST POSITIONS, ASSIGNMENT 

19 OF CERTAIN OPERATIONS STAFF, AND BIEN20 NIAL REVIEW OF STAFF LEVELS. 

21 (a) INCREASE IN CERTAIN TTA POSITIONS.—Not 

22 later than 180 days of the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act, the Commissioner shall ensure that— 

24 (1) the Textile Enforcement Branch (or any 

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1 sist of, at a minimum, one branch chief and 6 oper2 ations staff, of whom 3 operations staff shall be as3 signed to one of the CAFTA–DR countries for pur4 poses of assisting U.S. Customs and Border Protec5 tion with verification of textile and apparel pref6 erences claimed under the Dominican Republic-Cen7 tral America-United States Free Trade Agreement, 

8 signed at Washington August 5, 2004; 

9 (2) the Textile Policy Branch (or any successor 

10 or related division) of the TTA shall consist of, at 

11 a minimum, one division chief, 3 operations staff, 

12 and 2 textile trade analysts; and 

13 (3) the Quota Branch (or any successor or re14 lated branch of the Interagency Collaboration Divi15 sion) of the TTA shall consist of, at a minimum, one 

16 branch chief and 4 operations staff. 

17 (b) INCREASE IN TEXTILE AND APPAREL TRAINED

18 IMPORT SPECIALISTS.—As soon as practicable after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall 

20 certify, with respect to the 15 largest (by value of entries) 

21 United States ports of entry for textile or apparel articles, 

22 that import specialists who are assigned to such ports of 

23 entry are trained in fraud, trade preference verification, 

24 classification, undervaluation, or other issues relating to 

25 imports of textile or apparel articles so that the number 


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1 of such trained import specialist positions is not less than 

2 150 percent of the number of trained import specialist po3 sitions as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (c) INCREASE IN DEDICATED TEXTILE AND AP5 PAREL IMPORT SPECIALISTS.—As soon as practicable 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis7 sioner shall increase dedicated textile and import special8 ists by 25 percent at the 15 largest (by value of entries) 

9 United States ports of entry for textile or apparel articles 

10 over the number of such specialists as of the date of the 

11 enactment of this Act. 

12 (d) ASSIGNMENT OF OPERATIONS STAFF TO IM13 PORTS FROM CERTAIN COUNTRIES.—Not later than 180 

14 days after the entry into force of any free trade agreement 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act between the 

16 United States and a country that is one of the 10 largest 

17 exporters to the United States of textile and apparel prod18 ucts (by value of entries), the Textile Enforcement Branch 

19 (or any successor or related branch) of the TTA shall as20 sign not less than one operations staff to imports from 

21 that country for purposes of assisting the Commissioner 

22 with verification of preferential treatment claimed under 

23 that agreement with respect to textile and apparel prod24 ucts. 


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1 (e) BIENNIAL REVIEW OF STAFF LEVELS.—Not 

2 later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Commissioner shall 

4 submit to the Committee on Ways and Means and the 

5 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep6 resentatives, the Committee on Finance and the Com7 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

8 of the Senate, and the co-chairs of the Congressional Tex9 tile Caucus a report on the staffing levels specified in this 

10 section, including a determination of whether or not there 

11 is need for additional staff to carry out the duties of the 

12 TTA. 

13 TITLE II—ENTRY VERIFICATION 

14 PROVISIONS 

15 SEC. 201. SPECIAL PROVISIONS REGARDING CERTAIN VIO16 LATIONS RELATING TO IMPORT DOCUMENTA17 TION. 

18 (a) PUBLICATION OF NAMES OF CERTAIN VIOLA19 TORS.—Section 592A(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

20 U.S.C. 1592a(a)(1)) is amended— 

21 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

22 by striking ‘‘is authorized to’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

23 and 

24 (2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting before the 

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1 lations of quotas, duties, or trade preference pro2 grams’’. 

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

4 592A(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

5 1592a(b)(1)) is amended, in the first sentence— 

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

7 ‘‘shall’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting ‘‘or duties or violate trade pref9 erence programs’’ after ‘‘quotas’’. 

10 SEC. 202. ELECTRONIC PREFERENCE VERIFICATION SYS11 TEM FOR ORIGIN OF TEXTILE OR APPAREL 

12 ARTICLES UNDER CAFTA–DR, NAFTA, AND 

13 OTHER FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS. 

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

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, act16 ing through the Commissioner and in coordination with 

17 the head of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the De18 partment of Commerce, shall establish an electronic 

19 verification system for tracking textile or apparel articles 

20 imported or exported under the Dominican Republic-Cen21 tral America-United States Free Trade Agreement, signed 

22 at Washington August 5, 2004, the North American Free 

23 Trade Agreement, signed at Washington, Ottawa, and 

24 Mexico City December 8, 11, 14 and 17, 1992, or any 

25 other free trade agreement to which the United States is 


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1 a party, to ensure compliance with the respective require2 ments of such agreements. 

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

4 enter into consultations and agreements, as appropriate, 

5 with the government of each foreign country that is a 

6 party to an agreement described in subsection (a) for pur7 poses of implementing the electronic verification system 

8 established under that subsection. 

9 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The electronic verification 

10 system established under subsection (a) shall ensure that 

11 proprietary information, such as information about supply 

12 chain participants, is coded so that only personnel of U.S. 

13 Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Textiles 

14 and Apparel can access the information. 

15 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that the President should seek to make the integra17 tion of the electronic verification system established under 

18 subsection (a) in future free trade agreements a priority 

19 in negotiations for such agreements. 

20 SEC. 203. ESTABLISHMENT OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL NEW 

21 IMPORTER PROGRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall 

24 establish a new importer program under which U.S. Cus25 toms and Border Protection adjusts bond amounts for new 


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1 importers of textile and apparel articles based on the level 

2 of risk with respect to protection of the revenue of the 

3 Federal Government presented by each new importer. 

4 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commissioner shall en5 sure that, as part of the new importer program established 

6 under subsection (a), U.S. Customs and Border Protec7 tion— 

8 (1) develops risk assessment guidelines for new 

9 importers of textile and apparel articles; 

10 (2) adjusts bond amounts for new importers in 

11 accordance with the risk assessment guidelines de12 veloped under paragraph (1); 

13 (3) maintains a centralized database of new im14 porters; and 

15 (4) ensures accuracy of required information 

16 provided to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by 

17 new importers. 

18 (c) BONDING AUTHORITY.—Section 623(b) of the 

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

20 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(5) In the case of importation of textile or ap22 parel articles, by regulation or specific instruction 

23 require, or authorize U.S. Customs and Border Pro24 tection officers to require, the amount of the bond 

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1 alties estimated to be payable on such articles. For 

2 purposes of this paragraph, amounts equal to any 

3 penalties estimated to be payable on such articles 

4 shall be based on a risk assessment of the new im5 porter carried out in accordance with section 203 of 

6 the Textile Enforcement and Security Act of 2015. 

7 Any person who violates a requirement imposed pur8 suant to this paragraph shall be liable for a civil 

9 penalty of $50,000 for each such violation.’’. 

10 (d) OTHER PENALTIES.—In addition to the penalties 

11 specified in paragraph (5) of section 623(b) of the Tariff 

12 Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1623(b)), as added by subsection 

13 (c), for a violation of such paragraph, any person who vio14 lates any other customs or trade law of the United States 

15 with respect to the importation of textile or apparel arti16 cles shall be subject to any applicable civil or criminal pen17 alty, including seizure and forfeiture that may be imposed 

18 under such customs or trade law, including section 592 

19 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1592). 

20 SEC. 204. NONRESIDENT IMPORTER DECLARATION PRO21 GRAM FOR TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTICLES. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

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1 resident importer declaration program with respect 

2 to the importation of textile or apparel articles. 

3 (2) PROGRAM DESCRIBED.—The program es4 tablished under paragraph (1) shall— 

5 (A) require nonresident importers of textile 

6 or apparel articles to— 

7 (i) provide the information required 

8 under subsection (b); and 

9 (ii) declare the information required 

10 under subsection (c); and 

11 (B) require that the information required 

12 under subsections (b) and (c) accompany the 

13 entry summary documentation for such textile 

14 or apparel articles. 

15 (b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The Commissioner 

16 shall require the following information to be submitted by 

17 any nonresident importer seeking to import textile or ap18 parel articles: 

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

20 State in which the port of entry at which the non21 resident importer anticipates the textile or apparel 

22 articles will enter is located who is authorized to ac23 cept service of process against the nonresident im24 porter in connection with the importation of the tex25 tile or apparel articles. 


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1 (2) A certification that the resident agent de2 scribed in paragraph (1) has assets in the United 

3 States in sufficient amounts for the purpose of en4 suring the payment of any additional loss of revenue 

5 not covered by any surety bond or for any civil pen6 alties levied by the Federal Government in connec7 tion with the importation of the textile or apparel 

8 articles. 

9 (3) A copy of the commercial invoice accom10 panying the shipment of the textile or apparel arti11 cles, including the name, address, and contact infor12 mation for each person in the transaction, such as 

13 the trading house, the freight forwarder, and the ul14 timate purchaser of the goods. 

15 (c) DECLARATIONS REQUIRED.—Pursuant to proce16 dures prescribed by the Commissioner, any nonresident 

17 importer seeking to import textile or apparel articles shall 

18 declare the following: 

19 (1) The nonresident importer has secured a 

20 bond in connection with the importation of the tex21 tile or apparel articles as required by paragraph (5) 

22 of section 623(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

23 U.S.C. 1623(b)) (as added by section 203(c)). 


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1 (2) The nonresident importer has established a 

2 power of attorney in connection with the importation 

3 of the textile or apparel articles. 

4 (d) AUTHORITY.—A resident agent identified under 

5 subsection (b)(1) by a nonresident importer shall accept 

6 service of process on behalf of the nonresident importer 

7 for the purpose of duties, penalties, or other fines issued 

8 by the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Commis9 sioner if the Secretary or the Commissioner is unable to 

10 collect duties, penalties, or other fines from such non11 resident importer. 

12 (e) PENALTIES.— 

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

14 person to import into the United States any textile 

15 or apparel article in violation of the program estab16 lished under this section. 

17 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Any person who vio18 lates paragraph (1) shall be liable for a civil penalty 

19 of $50,000 for each such violation. 

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

21 penalties specified in paragraph (2), any violation of 

22 this section that violates any other customs or trade 

23 law of the United States shall be subject to any ap24 plicable civil and criminal penalty, including seizure 

25 and forfeiture, that may be imposed under such cusVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Apr 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S892.IS S892

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•S 892 IS

1 toms or trade law or title 18, United States Code, 

2 with respect to the importation of textile or apparel 

3 articles. 

4 TITLE III—ESTABLISHMENT OF 

5 TEXTILE AND APPAREL MAN6 UFACTURING AND SUPPLIER 

7 REGISTRY 

8 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL MAN9 UFACTURING AND SUPPLIER REGISTRY. 

10 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the President, acting through the Com12 missioner and in coordination with the head of the Office 

13 of Textiles and Apparel of the Department of Commerce, 

14 shall establish an electronic Textile and Apparel Manufac15 turing Supplier Registry pilot program to serve as a cen16 tralized database of United States producers and manu17 facturers of thread, yarn, fabric, and apparel that supply 

18 products to companies in any of the following countries: 

19 (1) The United States. 

20 (2) A country that is a party to— 

21 (A) the North American Free Trade 

22 Agreement, signed at Washington, Ottawa, and 

23 Mexico City December 8, 11, 14 and 17, 1992; 


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25 

•S 892 IS

1 (B) the Dominican Republic-Central Amer2 ica-United States Free Trade Agreement, 

3 signed at Washington August 5, 2004; or 

4 (C) any other free trade agreement to 

5 which the United States is a party. 

6 (3) A beneficiary country under the Caribbean 

7 Basin Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2701 et 

8 seq.). 

9 TITLE IV—IMPLEMENTATION 

10 REPORT 

11 SEC. 401. IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. 

12 Not later than one year after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Commissioner shall submit to the 

14 Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on 

15 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, the 

16 Committee on Finance and the Committee on Homeland 

17 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the 

18 co-chairs of the Congressional Textile Caucus, a report on 

19 the implementation of this Act. 

Æ 


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