U.S. issues watch list of transshipment violators
The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection published last week an updated list of factories from six countries that U.S. importers should avoid doing business with because they are suspected of illegally transshipping textile goods or convicted by their governments of false country of origin claims to get around U.S. quotas.
The transshipment watch list covers Botswana, Cambodia, El Salvador, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The new directive adds six factories from Hong Kong and one from El Salvador to the previous exclusion list, and deletes 21 Hong Kong factories and three from Taiwan.
U.S. companies are advised that orders they place with manufacturers on the watch list will be subject to detention until Customs obtains production documents proving the clothing items were produced at the designated factory instead of in another country.
To see the directive in its entirety, go to: http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/tbts/TBT2004/