NCTO urges Customs enforcement

At a hearing on May 20, 2010, before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, NCTO president Cass Johnson testified that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) needs new resources, new direction and new authority in order to make progress against increasing textile fraud taking place in trade preference and free trade areas.

Johnson noted that the cost of illegal trade displacing U.S. production is heavy, stating that “tens of thousands of textile jobs have been lost at a time when our country is facing record unemployment.” He also announced that textile state lawmakers and NCTO CEOs would be introducing the Textile Enforcement and Security Act (TESA) in the House of Representatives. The bill will contain more than a dozen measures to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection crack down on customs textile fraud. For more information, contact Jackie Ray at jray@ncto.org.

NCTO recently elected new officers during its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in April. David Hastings, president and CEO of Mount Vernon Mills, Mauldin, S.C., was elected chairman. William L. Jasper, president and CEO of Unifi Inc., Greensboro, N.C., was elected vice chairman of the organization. For a complete list of officers, visit www.ncto.org.