WEST PALM BEACH, Fla— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers with the West Palm Beach Trade Enforcement Team (TET) at the port of West Palm Beach seized numerous pallets containing hundreds of boxes of counterfeit footwear, handbags, headsets/ear buds and Universal Serial Bus (USB) adapters. The merchandise was shipped from China and destined to Nassau, Bahamas. The seized merchandise has an estimated Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of over $2,000,000.
CBP officers conducted an examination of cargo that was manifested as containing footwear, ladies handbags, tissue and assorted goods. CBP officers suspected various items to be counterfeit and submitted the items to CBP Import Specialists for an Intellectual Property Rights review. CBP subsequently seized the merchandise for violation of 19 USC 1526 (e) because the merchandise was bearing counterfeit marks.
“Our CBP officers demonstrate their exceptional skills at identifying counterfeit goods and work well with CBP Import Specialists to protect consumers and ensure that low quality and unsafe products do not enter the commerce of the United States,” said Port Director Jennifer Connors.
On a typical day in Fiscal Year 2015, CBP Office of Field Operations officers around the country seize counterfeit goods totaling more than $3.7 million. Intellectual Property Rights enforcement is a CBP Priority Trade Issue. CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) released their Fiscal Year 2015 IPR Seizure Statistics and an accompanying press release on April 15, 2016. In Fiscal Year 2015, 28,865 seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods, worth an estimated MSRP value of $1.3 billion, were made.
