U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers with the West Palm Beach Trade Enforcement Team at the port of West Palm Beach, Fla., seized numerous pallets containing hundreds of boxes of counterfeit footwear, handbags, headsets and ear buds, and USB adapters, CBP said Tuesday.
CBP said the merchandise was shipped from China and destined for Nassau, Bahamas. The seized merchandise has an estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of over $2 million, according to the agency.
During their investigation, CBP officers conducted an examination of cargo that was manifested as containing footwear, women’s 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 federal law because the merchandise was bearing counterfeit marks.
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“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 West Palm Beach port director Jennifer Connors.
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On a typical day in fiscal-year 2015, CBP Office of Field Operations officers around the country seized counterfeit goods totaling more than $3.7 million.
Intellectual Property Rights enforcement is a CPB Priority Trade Issue. In fiscal-year 2015, 28,865 seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods, with an estimated value of $1.3 billion, were made.
Apparel and accessories, along with watches and jewelry, were the top product categories for the number of IPR volatile shipments seized. Watches and jewelry, along with handbags and wallets, were at the top of the list for MSRP value. Tactical interagency collaboration with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center resulted in 538 arrests, with 339 indictments and 357 convictions.
China remained the primary source economy for counterfeit and pirated goods seized, accounting for a total estimated MSRP value of $697 million, or 52 percent of the estimated MSRP value of all IPR seizures.