With US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) stepping up its surveillance of smuggling of counterfeit goods, many Indian students and travellers who flew into America in recent months had their fake luxury items seized at the port of entry.Some told TOI they had to watch the staff run scissors through their clothes or ditch them in the trash can.
CPB rules say an individual can carry one counterfeit item of each type (like one shirt, handbag, or pair of shoes) provided it is for personal use and not for sale. Anything in “excess” of this is banned.
I travelled to the US to meet my son, who is pursuing a master’s in supply chain management in Texas. I was carrying eight shirts, four trousers, some socks, and a pair of shoes. All the goods were still packed as I had just bought them, said a schoolteacher from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
“At the port of entry officials checked my bags and bombarded me with questions about where I was travelling from, who the goods were for, if I was smuggling them, etc. Though I tried explaining to them that it was all for my son, they insisted that I could not take them as they were all counterfeit goods – copies of big brands – which I wasn’t aware of. Since they threatened me with criminal charges, I had no choice but to let them seize everything immediately.”
The traveller said many of the clothing items were torn before being discarded. “I lost goods worth at least Rs 30,000,” added the 43-year-old, appealing to authorities to mention these rules on relevant platforms for the benefit of travellers.
“How do we know this (rule) if it is not prominently mentioned in the dos and don’ts guide that gives travellers a checklist of what can be carried and what can’t,” asked a 27-year-old student from Hyderabad who had a similar experience a few months ago.
“It is very common in India for people to sell and buy copies of big brands.I had no idea that carrying them in my luggage is such a serious offence.” The student, pursuing a master’s in business management and economics from California, had eight to 10 shirts, pants, and three pairs of shoes thrown into the trash by customs officials.
When TOI reached out to the CPB, officials said that scrutiny had increased after 23 million counterfeit goods from 19,724 shipments were seized in 2023. “This violates Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). If these goods were genuine or sold illegally with actual brand names, it would have amounted to $2.7 billion,” a department representative said, adding that such fake goods threaten economic vitality, national security and public safety. “Bringing them into the United States may result in civil or criminal penalties and purchasing counterfeit goods often supports criminal activities, such as forced labour or human trafficking.”