CBP Pulls the Plug on Counterfeit Holiday Lights

Newark, N.J. – It is coming down to the wire for folks to be stringing up lights for their Christmas trees, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Newark port of entry have seized more than 31,000 pieces of Christmas lights, bearing counterfeit Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. labels.

These products may be dangerous if used since they are not authorized to bear the UL mark indicating safety compliance.

In two separate seizures, CBP officers seized 15,480 pieces of counterfeit UL bell lights, with a domestic value of $154,698; in another seizure, 15,792 counterfeit UL diamond chasing Christmas lights, worth $157,817 domestic value were confiscated. Both shipments were imported from China.

“With the holiday season upon us, CBP officers work diligently to detect and prevent the importation of fraudulent holiday merchandise that could cause serious injury to consumers,” said Robert E. Perez, director of field operations for CBP in New York.

Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. is an independent, not for-profit-product safety certification organization that tests products for public safety.

CBP in the New York/Newark Area continues to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other enforcement agencies and organizations such as Underwriter Laboratories to combat the illegal import of counterfeit goods which pose significant health and safety dangers to the American public.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.