Peeking Inside Hong Kong's Factories
U.S. customs officials are sending jump teams to Hong Kong to inspect apparel and textile factories.
The visits will start Aug. 10 and last two weeks. Inspectors plan to verify that factories are actually producing apparel and other goods sent to the United States. They also will be verifying the implementation of Hong Kong’s origin-control program for textiles and clothing exports.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, periodically sends inspection teams around the world to verify that factories listed on bills of lading and cargo manifests really are producing clothing or textiles.
In some visits, customs inspectors have arrived to find there is no factory at the stated address or another business is located there.
A few years ago, customs officials visited sweater factories in Australia after sweater imports from that country surpassed Australia’s production capabilities. Customs suspected the sweaters were being transshipped from China to Australia and then re-exported to the United States.
Often, if customs inspectors are not allowed to visit a factory or the proper records are not turned over, factories have problems getting their goods past U.S. customs inspectors.
New York customs attorney Arthur Bodek advises anyone who produces garments in Hong Kong to alert their factories that customs will be visiting textile facilities in the area and to make a list of the records they give customs officials. —Deborah Belgum
