CBP seizures of fake goods in Nov. up 24% at SoCal ports

CBP seizures of fake goods in Nov. up 24% at SoCal ports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials reported Nov. 27 that seizures of counterfeit goods arriving at the Long Beach and Los Angeles port complex from China jumped 24 percent in November over the same period last year.
   Agents for CBP confiscated $6 million in counterfeit goods from China, with the most common trademarked items being listed as: Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Coach, Levi Strauss, and Nike.
   Together the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports are the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere, with upwards of 15 million TEUs moving over their docks annually. The port complex, considered by most in the industry as one port, ranks as the No. 1 port of entry in the U.S. for Chinese goods.
   CBP reported that other counterfeit goods seized in November at the port complex included Christmas lights and electrical light fixtures falsely bearing the Underwriters Laboratories labels. The non-profit UL testing organization certifies product safety. CBP officials said untested goods could be potentially unsafe and the fake UL imprints could give consumers a false sense of security regarding the products.
   “We cannot underestimate the threat of counterfeit merchandise that could pose health and safety risks to consumers,” said Kevin Weeks, director of field operations for Customs in Los Angeles.