Textile Enforcement and Security Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-3741
Sponsor: Sen. Hagan, Kay R. [D-NC]
Introduced: 2010-08-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Business records
Canada
Caribbean area
Costa Rica
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Justice
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Evidence and witnesses
Executive agency funding and structure
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Free trade and trade barriers
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Guatemala
Honduras
Latin America
Law enforcement administration and funding
Law enforcement officers
Mexico
Nicaragua
North America
Tariffs
Trade agreements and negotiations

Summary:
action_date: 2010-08-05
text: 
Textile Enforcement and Security Act of 2010 - Requires the seizure and forfeiture of an imported textile or apparel article for which a trade preference has been claimed in cases where the importer: (1) has either misdescribed or not verified the article's country of origin; or (2) provides false information as to his or her address or does not meet certain documentation or informational requirements upon entry of an article.
 
Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) or the Secretary of the Treasury to use amounts from fines, penalties, and forfeitures of articles due to violations of the U.S. customs laws to pay for expenses related to the investigation and enforcement of such violations. Authorizes also the use of such amounts to pay for a reward of the lesser of at least 20% of that amount or $20,000 to any person who furnishes information that leads to an arrest, conviction, civil penalty assessment, or forfeiture of articles due to violations enforced by the Secretary.
 
Directs the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ensure specified staffing of the Textile Operations Branch of the Textile and Apparel Policy and Programs (TAPP) division of the Office of International Trade within CBP and of the Textile/Apparel Policy Branch of TAPP.
 
Requires the Commissioner to allocate, to the 15 largest U.S. ports of entry for textile or apparel articles, a certain number of Import Specialists trained in preventing textile or apparel importer fraud.
 
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require certain documentation or information from an importer upon the entry of textile or apparel articles to include an affidavit with specified information that may be electronically filed with CBP.
 
Prescribes additional bonding requirements for the importation of textile or apparel articles.
 
Specifies producers, manufacturers, suppliers, sellers, importers, exporters subject to certain prohibitions against fraud, gross negligence, or negligence in the documentation of imported merchandise.
 
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury (who is now merely authorized) to publish in the Federal Register: (1) the names of persons located outside of the U.S. customs territories against whom the CBP has issued a penalty claim for violating U.S. customs laws; and (2) a list of high risk countries involved in the transshipment of textile or apparel products.
 
Requires the President, acting through the CBP Commissioner and in coordination with the head of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the Department of Commerce, to establish an electronic verification system for tracking textile or apparel articles imported or exported under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), or any other free trade agreement to which the United States is a party to ensure compliance with such agreements.
 
Requires the President to establish a nonresident importer declaration program for the import of textile or apparel articles.
 
Directs the Attorney General to establish within the Department of Justice (DOJ) the Office of Textile and Apparel Trade Enforcement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-08-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2010-08-05
text: Introduced in Senate