General

Under the shadow of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, my country's cross-border e-commerce has continued to grow rapidly in the past two years. At the same time, risks have emerged one after another.

According to statistics, in 2019 alone, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 27,599 batches of goods involving violations of intellectual property rights, with a total value of approximately US$1.5 billion. About 66% of the products came from China, that is, on average. Every day, about 50 goods from China are formally seized by the U.S. Customs.

"The number of cases of goods seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in my country is showing a clear upward trend. Most of the cases involve violations of intellectual property rights, violations of the Federal Communications Commission regulations, violations of the United Nations Development Program 337 exclusion order, violations of UL certification, etc. Many e-commerce companies are due to I don’t understand the relevant laws, regulations and operating rules of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and fail to contact professional lawyers in time, resulting in delays in customs clearance, receiving huge fines, returning products to the country, and even confiscating products, which can be described as heavy losses." Gu Ping, a partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm, said in terms of the risk and resolution activities of international e-commerce.

u3000u3000 Gu Ping said that under U.S. law, importers are obliged to provide information about imported goods so that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can assess tariffs, collect data, and determine whether other legal requirements have been met. If the importer fails to fulfill the above obligations, it may cause delays in customs clearance of the goods and even fines. U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspections of goods are usually carried out by central checkpoints. In practice, due to the need to seek advice from government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, right holders, and interested parties, it may take more than 60 days for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to determine violations or infringements. Far beyond the 35 days required by law. After deciding whether to violate the law, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection needs to send the decision notice to the importer in the form of an ordinary letter.

"It is important for importers to actively understand the customs clearance rules of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ensure that goods enter the U.S. border smoothly. However, since the processing of customs clearance matters may be longer than the legal time limit, importers or other foreign trade The more export participants know about customs clearance rules, the more likely they are to avoid interception of products before importing, or to contact relevant departments in time before the products are released." said Xu Jingyan, a lawyer at Zhong Lun Law Firm.

u3000u3000What should the company do if the product is detained by the US Customs and Border Protection? Xu Jingyan said that if the goods have been detained, the importer or other stakeholders should carefully read the customs notice received. If the U.S. Customs and Border Protection specifies the testing of the goods, the importer can request the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in writing to provide the test results and the test method; if the U.S. Customs and Border Protection lists the subject of further inquiry, Importers should prepare responses to inquiries as soon as possible, collect written information, and arrange relevant personnel to sort out information related to the goods; if the importer has information that can help end the detention, such as intellectual property licensing, transfer, authorized use and other documents, or U.S. Federal Communications Commission documents, etc., should be submitted to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection through a lawyer as soon as possible after finishing sorting.

u3000u3000 Gu Ping said that if the goods have been seized, the importer can submit a request within 30 days after receiving the seizure notice, including a description of the goods, the time and place of the seizure, and reasons for exemption or mitigation of punishment. Or submit a settlement proposal to the Chairman of Customs through the Office of Customs Punishments to settle with the US Customs and Border Protection. At the same time, note that its content and format must comply with the specifications, otherwise it will face the risk of being rejected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. Or you can file an objection and request the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to transfer the case to the Attorney General for litigation while paying a bond. This method means that the importer does not want to resolve the goods with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection through administrative means. Import issues, trying to transfer the case to judicial confiscation procedures.