Los Angeles–U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the LA/Long Beach Seaport, in coordination with import specialists assigned to the Machinery Center of Excellence and Expertise (Machinery Center), seized 5,202 counterfeit refrigerator water filters. If genuine, the seized filters would have had an estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $224,202.
CBP officers discovered the filters while conducting an examination of a shipment arriving from China with a final destination in the state of Washington. The items were seized on July 2, after Machinery Center import specialists confirmed that the filters infringed Brita, GE, Frigidaire, PUR and NSF certification protected trademarks.
NSF International is an accredited, third-party certification body, which tests and evaluates products to public health and safety standards. Products certified by NSF have been tested, evaluated and determined to comply with specific standards, policies and procedures. The water filters seized contained counterfeit NSF certification markings printed on the products, and have not been evaluated, tested or certified by NSF.
certification markings (image credit: CBP)
According to a study conducted by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), counterfeit refrigerator water filters pose a serious risk to consumer health and safety. The use of fraudulently copied trademarks, branding and misleading claims make the filters look legitimate; and while the water may look, smell or taste fine, the counterfeit filters that were tested show that they fail to remove lead from water. Further, many of the filters tested introduced harmful chemicals into clean water.
Since October 1 2018 to date CBP at the LA/Long Beach Seaport has seized 169,490 counterfeit replacement refrigerator water filters, under sink ion exchange filters, pool and spa filters and water bottle filters with a combined MSRP of $8,440,764.
