Sharing of Information with Respect to Suspected Violations of Intellectual Property Rights

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4930, introduced by the Representative from Utah (Mr. Moore), my colleague and friend. I join him in praising our staffs, who worked together. It is good to see us working on a commonsense solution.

H.R. 4930, the counterfeit notification act, gives U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents the ability to share information about counterfeit goods with retailers and manufacturers.

The bill clarifies U.S. Customs and Border Protection's authority to share information about packaging, product specifications, and packing materials when their agents encounter a shipment of suspected counterfeit goods entering the United States.

Sharing this information with retailers, manufacturers, and logistics companies will help them better identify fraudulent shipments and target organized counterfeiting operations.

The bill also allows CBP agents to work directly with the intellectual property owners and with parties involved in the supply chain to better intercept counterfeit goods and track their country of origin.

Protecting intellectual property is essential for sustaining innovation, economic growth, and global competitiveness, especially in my district, which is home to some of the largest companies developing the next generation of medical technologies.

We know that counterfeit products can be dangerous to consumers and present serious safety and public health hazards.

In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 32 million counterfeit and pirated items across more than 300 ports of entry, which, all told, were valued in excess of $5 billion.

In the past 5 years, the number of illicit goods seized by CBP has more than doubled, while the value of those seized goods has grown by more than 400 percent.

The members of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition note that the cost of trafficking counterfeit goods is not only measured in dollars but also in the injuries caused by dangerous products, jobs lost to unfair competition, and the threats such products pose to our national security.

Whether we are talking about baby products, fashion goods, pharmaceuticals, or even electronics, this bill presents a commonsense solution to strengthen our country's ability to detect counterfeit goods and to keep the American people safe.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore), my friend and colleague, for working with me on H.R. 4930. I was proud to see this bill pass out of the Ways and Means Committee last year with a unanimous bipartisan vote.

Mr. Speaker, this bill gives U.S. Customs agents the tools they need to identify counterfeit goods, investigate supply chains, and better protect Americans from dangerous counterfeit products.

Again, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore) for his partnership on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4930, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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