Washington, D.C. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has hired 45 additional personnel to bolster U.S. textile law enforcement efforts and during the month of February seized $4 million in illegal textiles trying to make their way into the country.

The wool, cotton, polyester, will not be pulled over our eyes, stated CBP Acting Commissioner, Deborah J. Spero. Import and international trade specialists, laboratory and data analysts, auditors and attorneys are concentrating their efforts on enforcing our textile laws and are continuing to seize illegal goods. We are also pleased to announce that, on the request of Congress, 45 textile enforcement personnel have been hired and are already reinforcing our textile enforcement efforts.

In a February 2, 2006, press release, CBP stated that $10 million in misdescribed textile products had been seized in the previous four months; since that reporting, products worth an additional $4 million have been seized. During the month of February, CBP has made a series of 25 seizures including illegal transshipments and misdescription of merchandise to avoid quotas. Investigations on these seizure cases are ongoing. In addition to our continuing enforcement efforts, CBP is also initiating special operations to detect and deter fraudulent activity.

Last year, Congress appropriated an additional $4.75 million for CBP to increase textile enforcement efforts including hiring 45 additional personnel that would be solely dedicated to this effort. A wide variety of personnel, including import specialists, international trade specialists, laboratory analysts, data analysts, auditors, and attorneys, have joined in CBPs ongoing efforts to enforce the laws and regulations governing the importation of textiles. The majority of these positions are located in the field at the ports of entry.

Janet Labuda, Director, Textile Enforcement and Operations Division says that CBP will use all available meanstrade pattern analysis, on-site verifications, review of production records, audits, and laboratory analysis, to continue to vigorously enforce our trade laws and ensure that appropriate revenue is collected.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

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