PITTSBURGH – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is heavily engaged in the whole-of-government response to the Coronavirus pandemic, but Pittsburgh CBP officers are also conducting their primary trade enforcement mission and seizing counterfeit consumer goods, including electronics, air pods, sneakers and designer brand purses.
These seizures come
on the heels of a counterfeit designer brand charms seizure, that, if authentic, would have an MSRP of more than $150,000.
In the latest seizures, CBP officers intercepted 23 parcels, 19 which arrived from Hong Kong, two from China, and one each from Singapore and Taiwan. Collectively, these parcels contained 264 Flawless shavers, 235 Apple chargers, 120 pairs of Apple ear pods, 60 HDMI switches, 21 fully-loaded Nintendo-like gaming systems, 20 pairs of Air Jordan sneakers, and an assortment of Louis Vuitton, Prada, Fendi and Gucci purses and wallets.
If authentic, the consumer goods would have fetched more than $51,000 manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
The parcels were destined to addresses in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland Counties in Western Pennsylvania.
CBP officers initially examined the express delivery parcels during March. Due to officer expertise and quality of packaging, officers detained the consumer goods as potential counterfeit products.
CBP’s Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Centers for Excellence and Expertise, the agency’s trade experts, verified through the trademark holders that the products were counterfeit. Officers completed seizures of six parcels on March 27, four parcels on March 29, and 13 parcels on April 5.
Consumers should be aware that counterfeit goods pose a health and safety threat and could cause financial hardship. The electric shavers could malfunction, the phone chargers could overheat and ignite, and the gaming systems could be loaded with malicious software that could steal consumers’ identities or financial information.
“Customs and Border Protection officers remain committed to working with our trade and consumer safety partners to identify and seize potentially harmful counterfeit products,” said Kathleen Killian Schafer, CBP’s Acting Port Director for the Port of Pittsburgh. “CBP urges consumers to protect their families and their wallets by purchasing authentic goods from reputable vendors.”
CBP protects businesses and consumers every day through an aggressive Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement program. Importation of counterfeit merchandise can cause significant revenue loss, damage the U.S. economy, and threaten the health and safety of the American people. On a typical day in 2019, CBP officers seized $4.3 million worth of products with Intellectual Property Rights violations. Learn more about what CBP did during "A Typical Day" in 2019.
CBP officers and Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents seized 27,599 shipments containing counterfeit goods in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. The total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of the seized goods, had they been genuine, increased to over $1.5 billion from nearly $1.4 billion in FY 2018.
Additionally, HSI arrested 256 individuals, obtained 197 indictments, and received 157 convictions related to intellectual property crimes during FY 2019.
The People’s Republic of China remained the primary source economy for seized counterfeit and pirated goods, accounting for a total estimated MSRP value of over $1 billion or 66 percent of the estimated MSRP value of all IPR seizures.
CBP's border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. Please visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders. Learn more about CBP at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore and on Instagram at @dfobaltimore for breaking news, current events, human-interest stories and photos.