MIAMI: In one of the largest seizures this year at the Miami Seaport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized over 2,300 counterfeit Gucci and Louis Vuitton handbags with an estimated Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $1,076,685. The handbags arrived in a shipment from China.
CBP officers conducted an examination on the cargo that consisted of 825 cartons of clothes, shoes, trousers and handbags and observed that 20 cartons were not declared on any of the import documentation. This prompted CBP officers to submit the handbags to CBP import specialists for an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) review. The IPR review revealed 1,200 counterfeit Gucci handbags and 1,195 Louis Vuitton handbags.
“This seizure is a perfect example of our CBP officers and import specialists’ commitment to preventing counterfeit goods from entering the commerce of the United States,” said Acting Miami Seaport Director Kenneth Haefner.
In Fiscal Year 2014, CBP made more than 23,000 seizures of counterfeit goods worth an estimated $1.2 billion MSRP.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has direct responsibility for enhancing U.S. economic competitiveness. By reducing costs for industry and enforcing trade laws against counterfeit, unsafe, and fraudulently entered goods, CBP is working to enable legitimate trade, contribute to American economic prosperity, and protect against risks to public health and safety.
