CBP Seizes $155K in Counterfeit Sports Merch
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Ohio intercepted over 100 shipments of counterfeit sports merchandise bearing the logos of Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Football League (NFL) teams.
During “Special Operation Home Plate” on July 10-14, CBP conducted inspections on incoming shipments at the Port of Cincinnati and uncovered $155,919 worth of items, including sports jerseys, bearing protected brand names or trademarks. A memo from CBP on Monday revealed that 34 additional shipments were abandoned by importers.
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Most of the shipments originated in China and Hong Kong, though products from Mexico, Guatemala and Canada were also seized. Import specialists from CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise, who are trained to identify counterfeits, supported officers on the ground in identifying the offending shipments. Last year, China maintained its position as the most prolific source for fakes and pirated goods, representing 60 percent of the estimated MSRP value of all seizures related to intellectual property. Last year alone, $1.8 billion in counterfeits from China were seized by CBP.
“This operation helps CBP protect U.S. citizens and economic interests and supports the agency’s mission of enhancing the nation’s economic prosperity,” Cincinnati Port Director Norma Porco said. “Our officers are trained to identify and interdict high-risk packages containing fraudulent and illegal merchandise, especially for priority trade issues such as intellectual property rights enforcement.”
CBP’s educational initiative, “Fake Goods, Real Dangers,” accessible through the government agency’s website, aims to raise consumer awareness about the consequences and risks that come with buying duped or pirated products. There are economic impacts to legitimate vendors, along with health and safety risks due to unknown ingredients and chemical inputs. There are also legal implications for shoppers and importers who knowingly purchase counterfeit goods, as they may have been created by criminal enterprises or through forced labor. The trade community and the general public can report suspected violations through the “e-Allegations” web portal, which tips off CBP and other government agencies, supplementing the work already being done at ports of entry across the U.S.
“Legal trade is the backbone of American revenue, and illicit and counterfeit products often fund criminal activity,” CBP Chicago Field Office director of field operations LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke said. “CBP continues to mitigate risks posed by illegal imports such as these by protecting the intellectual property rights of Americans and American businesses.” Counterfeits now represent a $600-billion problem that could soon reach the the trillions. U.S. shoppers spend more than $100 billion each year on counterfeits and fakes.
Recent legislation aims to stem the flow of illicit goods. The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (INFORM) went into effect on June 27, giving shoppers greater access to information about sellers on online marketplaces, as well as the origins of products. Meanwhile, CBP has been cracking down on shipments suspected to have originated in China’s Xinjiang region, as well as products that could contain inputs, like cotton, that were grown there, under the rebuttable presumption that they were made with forced labor. Over the past year, CBP has stopped a total of 5,059 shipments worth $1.74 billion under Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) criteria, and denied 1,733 shipments from making their way onto the U.S. market. Shipments containing apparel, footwear and textiles were among those most frequently stopped, representing 877 detentions.
