#coun­terfeit

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How Customs & Border Pro­tection catches coun­terfeit products coming into the U.S.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Thousands of people cross the Canadian border from New York every day. There are 16 border crossings across the state that are all hot spots for counterfeit products to make their way into the U.S. economy.

“We liken it to looking for a needle in a needle stack. Actually, that's how difficult it is,” said Kevin Corsaro, watch commander for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

What You Need To Know

Thousands of people cross the Canadian border from New York every day through one of the state's 16 border crossings Counterfeit products are becoming more common across the border and it's taking a toll on our health and safety, as well as the U.S. economy U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are trained with manufacturing companies to keep a close eye on the details that can differentiate real and counterfeit products crossing the border The most common counterfeit products are apparel, perfumes and electronic goods Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that an Ontario importer pleaded guilty to trafficking $4.2 million in counterfeit merchandise from approximately Oct. 2016 to Aug. 1, 2017, and those costs come out of companies' revenues that make everyday products more expensive

Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that an Ontario importer pleaded guilty to trafficking $4.2 million in counterfeit merchandise from approximately Oct. 2016 to Aug. 1, 2017. That process starts with a close eye used by trained agents at the border who know what to look out for.

“On the primary line, our officers are basically interviewing the driver and reviewing the paperwork," Corsaro explained. "If there's inconsistencies in the paperwork, they will refer that truck to the secondary area for an exam. And then from there, they're looking for any merchandise that's either unmanifested or any merchandise that may be counterfeit. Obviously, any illegal narcotics or any illegal substances that are in the truck that are being illegally smuggled into our country."

But as counterfeiting becomes more frequent, so does the cost of goods, which ultimately continues the cycle.

“It happens, often. Actually, it happens, maybe not on a grand scale, like in a large container,” he explained.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection sees about 3,000 trucks crossing the border every day. That’s where they find the most counterfeit goods at the border by land. Although, they can also be found via air and train travel, as well as in postal services.

“We interdict products that we suspect to be counterfeit," said Gaetano Cordone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s port director for the Buffalo area. "And we have strong relationships with the trade community. To talk to some of these companies and explore some of the products that we encounter and then make the determination as to whether or not it's a legitimate or something that's counterfeit, and that we actually need to seize."

Counterfeit products are most common in apparel, perfume and electronic goods, so agents have a working relationship with many brands to be trained on how they create the product, and how agents at the border can spot the differences.

“So the stitching here is not even across the cap here. So this actually starts to tell away and go low and then back high again. So this is not something that New Era would endorse and produce on their end, as well as the sturdiness of this cap. When you purchase these caps, they're a lot more firm than this. They're not falling as this cap is doing here,” Cordone showed. “We have things like these counterfeit jerseys here. They're labeled by Nike. But again, this is not a product that Nike would normally manufacture with this poor stitching. The labeling, the letters, not all of it being situated in the right fashion."

Items displayed are only about 5% of what they’ve seized so far this year.

“Some of it is folks just don't want to pay the top dollar for legitimate and noncounterfeit items," Cordone said. "So it's much cheaper to purchase these products at a lower price. But in doing so, they don't realize some of the unintended consequences that occur from that, as well as some of the harmful impact to the economy and to trade and certain health risks as well."

Health risks could apply to counterfeit perfumes or colognes. In many cases, they say, these counterfeit products are not made in an FDA lab, so the products could be made from harmful bacteria when applied to our skin.

“If they're not manufactured in a safe way, someone buys these Christmas lights online and then they put them up at their house, and then they can actually be a fire hazard in their home," he added.

However, he says the impact counterfeit products are having on the U.S. economy can be considered most impactful.

“If we're purchasing counterfeit goods, then the legitimate companies, in order to be able to make up the revenue loss, they are then increasing their prices. They have to increase their prices in order to continue to compete and make up for the revenue loss of the millions and billions of dollars that they're losing as a result of these counterfeit products being so,” Cordone explained. “Folks may ask themselves, 'Why does this matter? Why does it matter if I want to save a couple extra dollars to purchase a counterfeit jersey?' It does matter. The implications are significant. Some of these counterfeit products are produced through forced labor. Others are used to support the illegal drug trade. We're a week from Sept. 11. Some of these support, you know, transnational criminal organizations and terrorist organizations. So it has that negative impact on the economy and the businesses in the United States. So when folks are trying to maybe save a dollar, sometimes they have to take a step back and think about the other impacts, not just to themselves, but to our folks and the businesses in this community."

Cordone says that Louis Vuitton reports a $1 billion loss of revenue on an annual basis as a result of manufactured counterfeit products. The agency has also found dozens of counterfeit Super Bowl rings and high-end designer products. Its most expensive counterfeit catch so far this year was a watch that’s estimated at more than $1 million in value if it was real.

"If it's a Josh Allen jersey and you're getting it for $25, it's likely that it's probably counterfeit,” Corsaro said.

“This is just a small snapshot here for Buffalo. So I mean we have containers and containers of this stuff coming in through our ports of entry across the country,” Cordone said. “We encourage folks that when they're purchasing something online and it seems like the price is too good to be true, most likely that's accurate. It probably is too good to be true, and most likely is counterfeit."

As trends continue, and costs increase, the consequence can end up on the consumer.

“If we're purchasing counterfeit goods, then the legitimate companies, in order to be able to make up the revenue loss, they are then increasing their prices," Cordone said. "They have to increase their prices in order to continue to compete and make up for the revenue loss of the millions and billions of dollars that they're losing as a result of these counterfeit products being so."

USCBP says if consumers feel they’ve purchased something that may be counterfeit, if there is incorrect spelling on a product, or if the size or font is different, or packaging is poor material, they have the opportunity to report it to Customs and Border Protection at cbp.gov.