Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Lawmaker presses bill to let CBP alert businesses about suspected counterfeit shipments
Loading...
Summary
A House member urged quick passage of the "Counterfeit Notification Act" (H.R. 4,930) to let U.S. Customs and Border Protection share shipment-level details with e-commerce platforms and carriers to intercept counterfeit goods; the House suspended the rules and passed the bill as amended.
A House member told colleagues on the floor that H.R. 4,930, the "Counterfeit Notification Act," had been slated for consideration and described the bill as a tool to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection share shipment-level information with businesses, e-commerce platforms and logistics carriers to stop counterfeit goods.
The lawmaker said he introduced the bill with Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and said the measure targets the influx of counterfeit goods entering the United States. He cited fiscal-year 2023 enforcement figures, saying U.S. Customs and Border seized more than $2,700,000,000 worth of counterfeit goods and that more than 46% of those seizures originated from China and Hong Kong.
The sponsor said current law limits what CBP may publicize when it suspects a shipment is counterfeit and prevents sharing shipment identifiers such as labels, invoices or packing slips with private-sector stakeholders. Under the bill, the lawmaker said, CBP would have explicit authority to share relevant information — including shipping labels and tracking numbers, invoices and shipping manifests, outer-package images, and sender and recipient addresses — with carriers and platforms so they can detect patterns and intercept parcels earlier in the supply chain.
"This is a common sense bill that will strengthen U.S. national security, kneecap bad actors, and protect the IP of American companies," the lawmaker stated, saying the change would let CBP flag repeat senders, drop addresses used by organized counterfeiters, and common entry points or air routes. He named retailers and platforms by example, saying the law would help e-commerce sites such as Etsy and Amazon and carriers including DHL, UPS and FedEx to act on suspected counterfeit shipments. He also offered a practical example involving repeat shipments arriving through the Port of Los Angeles using the same fake return address.
On the procedural motion that followed, the presiding officer asked whether the House would suspend the rules and pass H.R. 4,930 as amended. "In the opinion of the chair, two thirds being in the affirmative," the presiding officer said, and declared the rules suspended and the bill passed. The presiding officer also stated that, without objection, the motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
The transcript records no roll-call vote or further floor action on the measure in this excerpt; next legislative steps beyond passage under suspension of the rules were not specified in the recorded remarks.
