Cotton Analysis Request for Information

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Operations Support, Laboratories and Scientific Services (CBP/LSS) is the scientific and technical arm of CBP. CBP/LSS provides scientific services to the Office of Trade (OT) and Office of Field Operations (OFO) in support of trade priority issues such as Country of Origin (COO), Antidumping/Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD), and Intellectual Property Rights. CBP/LSS has been collaborating with OT Trade Remedy Law Enforcement, Forced Labor Division, to address forced labor in supply chains entering the United States.

CBP/LSS has chosen a light stable isotope analysis technical approach to addressing this issue and requires ongoing technical support for determining geographic origin of agricultural products. CBP/LSS is seeking services for light element stable isotopic fingerprinting of cotton for determination of geographic origin. CBP/LSS requires a service provider who has the capability to enable CBP to isotopically fingerprint cotton, compare analytical data against a global reference database/library, and ascertain the region or country of origin, as appropriate, to assist CBP/LSS and CBP in detecting illegal goods, as well as provide technical support in this effort.

CBP/LSS has built an internal capability for analyzing finished cotton goods for geographical attribution by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) analysis. CBP/LSS is seeking services for specialized IRMS testing methods, IRMS analytical training, access to validated statistical models, and access to a global reference database/library of known cotton to include regions subject to forced labor and other trade priority issues.