The United States has begun steps to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in new subsidies to companies under an anti-dumping program ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization, the U.S. government said on Friday. "We are committed to making sure these payments are provided in a timely and efficient manner" later this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner said in a statement carried by Reuters. Customs published an official notice this week asking eligible companies to apply for the funds. The United States has paid out more than $1 billion to U.S. ball bearing, steel, seafood, pasta, candle and other companies under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 -- otherwise known as the Byrd amendment after one of its chief sponsors, Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat. The program distributes money raised by duties on imports the United States has determined are subsidized or unfairly priced to companies that sought the protection. Previously, those funds went into the general U.S. treasury. --More 2338 Local Time 2038 GMT