The government is taking strong measures against illegal activities exploiting the overseas direct purchase system.
Hanmin, Director of the Investigation Bureau at the Korea Customs Service, is announcing a special crackdown plan on illegal activities abusing the overseas direct purchase system at the Government Daejeon Complex on the 21st. Photo by Korea Customs Service
On the 21st, the Korea Customs Service announced that it will operate a special crackdown period from the 28th of this month to the 29th of next month to block smuggling of hazardous goods and intellectual property rights-infringing items exploiting the simplified customs clearance system for overseas direct purchases.
The simplified customs clearance system for overseas direct purchases allows import declaration to be omitted for personal use items valued at $150 (or $200 for shipments from the United States) or less.
The problem is that smuggling exploiting this system is openly taking place. In fact, the Korea Customs Service detected a total of 143 cases of overseas direct purchase abuse through crackdowns from January to September this year, with import amounts reaching 60.8 billion KRW. This represents an increase of 7 cases and 6.8 billion KRW compared to the same period last year.
The detected cases are categorized as follows: 110 cases involving smuggling of commercial goods disguised as personal use items amounting to 53 billion KRW, 4 cases of intellectual property rights infringement amounting to 1.9 billion KRW, 11 cases of smuggling illegal food and pharmaceuticals amounting to 5.8 billion KRW, and 18 drug-related cases amounting to 100 million KRW.
Despite strengthening crackdowns so far, the Korea Customs Service planned and decided to implement a special crackdown considering the ongoing occurrence of crimes exploiting overseas direct purchases.
The special crackdown will be conducted in line with major overseas online shopping mall discount events such as China's Guanggun Festival and the United States' Black Friday. During this period, the Korea Customs Service will select items and areas for illegal overseas direct purchase crackdowns, strengthen information analysis and planned crackdowns, and strictly punish illegal activities related to overseas direct purchases.
In particular, in collaboration with domestic and international e-commerce companies, the Korea Customs Service will intensively monitor the online distribution of illegal and fraudulent imported goods such as hazardous food and pharmaceuticals and suspected intellectual property rights-infringing items, while taking measures such as suspending use and deleting illegal sellers and sales posts.
The main crackdown items are those with recent concentrated demand in overseas direct purchases, including ▲ food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics ▲ miscellaneous goods such as bags, shoes, and clothing ▲ electrical and electronic products ▲ sports and leisure goods.
The crackdown areas include smuggling disguised as personal consumption through simplified customs clearance, fraudulent imports aimed at evading import requirements, and counterfeit goods smuggled by disguising product names.
The Korea Customs Service will also analyze information on cases where customs clearance was withheld due to suspected intellectual property rights infringement among overseas direct purchase declarations and simultaneously investigate suspects of smuggling intellectual property rights-infringing goods exploiting overseas direct purchases.
Han Min, Director of the Customs Investigation Bureau, said, “As overseas direct purchases become commonplace, illegal activities exploiting this system are also becoming frequent. The Korea Customs Service will further strengthen information analysis and planned crackdowns on offenders exploiting overseas direct purchases to prevent consumer damage and protect the health and safety of the public.”
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