“Crack down on K-brand ‘knockoffs’ and block drugs, too” ... Korea Customs Service launches global “customs diplomacy”

[Financial News] As the distribution of counterfeit goods misusing K-brands and drug smuggling have surged, the Korea Customs Service has launched high-level customs diplomacy with major trading partners around the world to strengthen border controls.
 Korea Customs Service Commissioner Lee Jong-wook said on the 27th that the agency would launch full-scale customs diplomacy with major trading partners worldwide, beginning with the “Korea-Japan Customs Chiefs’ Cooperation Meeting” to be held on the 29th.
 The move reflects the view that domestic customs-clearance enforcement alone has its limits, as the distribution of counterfeit goods that damage Korean brands’ reputations overseas has become more sophisticated and methods of smuggling narcotics across borders have grown increasingly diverse. The Korea Customs Service plans to make information sharing and joint enforcement with customs authorities in other countries routine, in order to proactively protect Korean companies’ intellectual property at the border and fundamentally prevent narcotics that threaten public safety from entering the country.
 The harm caused by counterfeit goods is also evident in the statistics. The recent special crackdown by the Korea Customs Service uncovered 9,571 counterfeit K-brand items, twice the 4,744 found in crackdowns in May and June this year. The latest crackdown was conducted at customs offices nationwide over the two months of August and September, stopping about 280,000 counterfeit items at the customs-clearance stage. Korean cosmetics such as Sulwhasoo, d’Alba and AHC, as well as K-pop merchandise such as BTS and IVE goods, were among the main items uncovered. Ordinary import cargo accounted for 52.1% of the entry routes, while express courier and postal shipments accounted for 46.2%. Small consignments brought in through direct overseas purchases are on the rise.
 At the Korea-Japan Customs Chiefs’ Cooperation Meeting, which will serve as the first foothold for this global customs diplomacy, Commissioner Lee plans to ask Japan to actively cooperate so that Korean companies’ “applications to block imports and exports of goods that infringe intellectual property rights” can be processed smoothly and promptly by Japanese customs. Japan’s “import/export blocking application system” allows rights holders to register intellectual property information with customs in advance to prevent counterfeit goods from crossing the border. It is a key defense measure corresponding to the Korea Customs Service’s “Intellectual Property Rights Protection Declaration.”
 The customs authorities of both countries also plan to formally propose joint enforcement at the border to protect brands and discuss robust joint response measures, including real-time information sharing on the latest trends in narcotics detections and smuggling patterns.
 Starting with the Korea-Japan meeting, the Korea Customs Service plans to gradually expand high-level cooperation channels to major trading partners including Europe, Thailand, Vietnam, China and the United States. Earlier, in September, on the occasion of the Korea-Central Asia Summit, the agency laid the groundwork by exchanging “Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements” with Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and “Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on Cooperation in Intellectual Property Protection” with Uzbekistan and others.
 Korea Customs Service Commissioner Lee Jong-wook said, “We will ensure that the issues discussed, beginning with this Korea-Japan Customs Chiefs’ Cooperation Meeting, do not remain a one-off event but lead to tangible enforcement results,” adding, “Alongside working-level consultations with customs authorities overseas, we will also carry out follow-up measures without a hitch.”

[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter