Civil Fines for Importation of Merchandise Bearing a Counterfeit Mark

Résumé

This document amends the Customs Regulations to clarify the limit on the amount of a civil fine which may be assessed by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP; a bureau of the new Department of Homeland Security that encompasses much of the agency formerly known as the U.S. Customs Service) when imported merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark is seized under 19 U.S.C. 1526(e). The regulations currently use, as a measurement for determining the limit, the domestic value of merchandise as if it had been genuine, based on the manufacturer's suggested retail price of the merchandise at the time of seizure. The language set forth in the amended regulation adheres more closely to the statutory language, basing the limit of the civil fine on the value of the genuine good according to the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), without any reference to domestic value. Because the MSRP excludes discounted sales and markdowns, it is usually greater than the good's domestic value. Removing the distinction between the statutory and regulatory language will clear up confusion and result in CBP more uniformly determining the amount of a civil fine when merchandise bearing a coun