DNA Textile Marker Program Awaits Funding
A Los Angeles technology company that has developed a DNA-based textile tracing tool to track illegal imports will have to wait longer than expected to find out whether the federal government will implement its product.
Applied DNA Sciences has one of three technologies being considered by government researcher Oak Ridge National Laboratory to help track fabrics from their origination points. The technology will help customs officials nab violators of trade laws that favor exporters using fabrics from Americanbased mills. The laboratory, governed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, needs at least $1.2 million to test the technologies, but funding has stalled in Congress.
The bill is part of an omnibus package that Sen. Robert Byrd (D–W.V.) opposes. It will come up for a roll call vote in January.
The Bush administration initially said it wanted the technology in place in 2004, but with funding yet to be approved, the deadline for implementation will extend beyond next year. It will take at least 18 months to implement a new system, said lead researcher Glenn Allgood of Oak Ridge.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R–N.C.), whose home state represents the majority of the country’s large textile mills, has been lobbying federal officials to push the bill through. Last month, she appealed to Tom Ridge, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to speed another initiative related to textile imports. That initiative involves spending $9.5 million for 47 new customs agents to enforce textile trade violations.
Dole said between $2 billion and $5 billion in fabric is shipped illegally every year. Various trade agreements eliminate the 18 percent tariff for exporters if they use fabrics originating from American mills, but until now there has not been a way to identify where fabrics have been made.
Applied DNA has developed a system that uses biotechnology and scientifically processed DNA ink, derived from plants. The ink is processed to contain a unique authentication code for each manufacturer. The DNAembedded ink can be applied to fabrics and garment labels; printed onto logos, documents, currency and other surfaces; and then tested for authenticity.
Other technologies being considered include an invisible chemical dye being developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cotton Quality Research Station at Clemson University in South Carolina, as well as a microscopic bar-code system based on reflectivity and an optical system based on wet chemistry being developed by private organizations, said Allgood.
“The real solution resides in the architecture that integrates the technologies and maps the operational requirements of textile marking onto an affordable system,” he said.
While all quotas on imports are scheduled to be lifted in 2005 under the World Trade Organization agreements, preferential treatment will still be in effect for countries that use American fabrics.
“Every illegal shipment that enters our market takes market share and artificially deflates the cost of textiles, and this costs American jobs,” said Dole in a letter to Ridge. —Robert McAllister
