Feb 5, 2021: The next time you don your disposable cloth mask, it would be wise to consider this breaking US Customs & Border Protection report (February 2021). It has been officially reported by the US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agency that China accounted for 51% of all counterfeit and substandard covid masks dating back to October 2019. (February 5, Epoch News)
According to US Customs officials, the CBP seized more than 12.7 million counterfeit masks, 177,356 prohibited COVID-19 test kits, and 38,098 FDA-prohibited chloroquine tablets. Although quality tested Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and FDA approved treatments are an important aspect of covid mitigation efforts, the infiltration of counterfeited and poorly produced treatments and testing kits is a serious threat to public health and safety in the US and abroad. The FDA offers US citizens an important database and list of fraudulent COVID-19 PPE products, prophylactic treatments and test kits. This FDA list contains names and products of all rogue business operators that citizens should be aware of.
To add to the concerns about the surge in fake PPE’s aimed at the US market, CBP seized 10,080 counterfeit surgical masks in Cincinnati last December. The seized masks were labeled “3M Mask Model 1860” and originated from China. The boxes containing the counterfeit masks were also fraudulently labeled as “Made in the USA” and considered completely ineffective and “shoddy”. In a second example, the CBP also reported the seizure of another 6,080 fake 3M masks in December (this time a shipment originating from Hong Kong). A third example took place in Chicago in September when the CBP local customs officials discovered a massive shipment containing 500,000 counterfeit N95 masks (this shipment originated from the Chinese city of Shenzhen).
Aside from the fact that this constant surge of counterfeit covid PPE and treatments represents a public health threat, it should also be noted that these products have been directly tied to egregiously immoral and oppressive forced labour camps in China. In the past year, the CBP reported a record number of 13 new “withhold release orders” relating to banned forced labour (“concentration camp”) imports. The banned forced labour products in question (disposable gloves, masks, cotton) carry an estimated value in excess of US$50 million. To further address this serious problem, the CBP issued a new “withhold release order” (January 13) strictly banning all imports of cotton, apparel, and textiles originating from China’s Xinjiang region.
To complete this review of the February CBP report, the customs agency seized 26,503 shipments involving products that violated U.S. intellectual property rights. China was, by far, the “top source” of such seizures carrying a market value over US$1.3 billion! In one specific example from the report, the CBP highlighted a Los Angeles case involving the seizure of three full cargo shipments of counterfeit products from China worth more than US$32 million.
Many lessons can be learned from the recent CBP report but none more important than understanding the scale of counterfeit products entering the US and nations around the world, most notably involving knock-off products aimed at exploiting the covid crisis. At a minimum, this article should (1) compel the reader to carefully research the products they use for health safety and (2) demand that their local/state/federal elected officials get far more serious about dealing with (and sanctioning) China’s corrupt / counterfeit trade industry. This includes a demand for Joe Biden and his family to immediately eliminate their intimate and “proprietary” ties with the CCP. By: Extremely American Colin Wright