CINCINNATI—Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Cincinnati seized 500 counterfeit STIHL chainsaw chain sharpeners from two large shipments of hardware accessories. The sharpeners, which came from Hong Kong, would have been worth $20,000 had they been genuine. They were enroute to a Greenwood, Indiana address.
CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise confirmed the sharpeners were counterfeit.
“Outdoor power equipment can be dangerous when the components don’t work the way they were originally designed to do,” said Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie. “This is an unusual seizure, but a critically important one, and our officers once again show how their training and skill enables CBP to be a strong frontline of defense against faulty goods that can endanger the lives of innocent citizens.”
Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection is a priority trade issue for CBP. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, CBP and their partner agency Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized 27,599 shipments containing IPR violations with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of over $1.5 billion had the goods been genuine. The People’s Republic of China remained the primary source economy for counterfeit and pirated goods seized, accounting for a total estimated MSRP value of over $1 billion, or 66 percent of the estimated MSRP of all IPR seizures.
CBP has established an educational initiative to raise consumer awareness about the consequences and dangers that are often associated with the purchase of counterfeit and pirated goods. Information about the Truth Behind Counterfeits public awareness campaign can be found at https://www.cbp.gov/FakeGoodsRealDangers.
Follow CBP on Twitter @CBPChicago and @DFOChicago.