Chinese-made Golf Shoes Disguised as Domestic... 'Descente Korea' Sanctioned

False Origin Labeling for 10 Months

The Fair Trade Commission imposed sanctions on Descente Korea for labeling Chinese-made golf shoes as domestic products and selling them.

[Photo by Korea Fair Trade Commission]

According to the Fair Trade Commission on the 14th, last month, the commission issued a corrective order against Descente Korea for labeling three types of golf shoes originating from China as "Made in Korea." Descente Korea falsely indicated the origin on price tags and packaging boxes for about 10 months starting from July 2021. In May of last year, the origin mislabeling was detected during a focused inspection of golf equipment origins by the Cheonan Customs Office, and at that time, Descente Korea claimed that the incorrect labeling was due to an employee's mistake and corrected it.

The Fair Trade Commission explained, "These golf shoes are not domestic products involving more than simple processing using imported materials; most of the raw materials are Chinese, and the company also acknowledged that the origin is China." It added, "The origin is an important factor for consumers when deciding to purchase golf shoes, so false or exaggerated labeling interferes with consumers' rational purchasing decisions and undermines fair trade order."