Category Archives: tobacco

$500k of e-cigarettes seized by CBP.

August 19, 2020 By in cigarettes, tobacco Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Seized counterfeit pods, source: CBP.gov

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Philadelphia seized 48 shipments of either counterfeit or unapproved e-cigarette pods since June with the 58,538 individual pods worth a combined $500,000 if authentic or if approved for sale.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the importation of tobacco products imported into the US and all products must comply with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) along with the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

This past April, in response to the increase rise in teenage tobacco usage, the FDA issued new measures to regulate the unauthorized importation of flavored cartridge e-cigarettes. Besides unauthorized goods, the seized products also included counterfeit of brand names such as Pop, Puff, Eonsmoke, etc.

If you have had your good seized by Customs on behalf of the FDA, contact David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288, or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Tobacco from Malawi subject to detention by US Customs.

November 2, 2019 By in Africa, forced labor, tobacco, Uncategorized, WRO Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a withhold release order on tobacco from the southeast African country of Malawi and other products that contain tobacco from Malawi.
A withhold release order (WRO) means any products from Malawi containing tobacco will be detained by CBP at all of the ports of entry. A WRO was issued after information was collected by CBP that indicates tobacco from Malawi is produced using forced labor and forced child labor.
Many believe a WRO means you cannot import tobacco from Malawi – however, an WRO still allows for importation of tobacco, but importers need to provide documentation that their tobacco and tobacco containing products do not include tobacco from Malwai that was produced using child labor or other prohibitions under US law. 
This most recent WRO is just one of 7 previously issued by CBP this year to prevent the importation of products made using forced labor (which includes convict labor, forced child labor or indentured labor).
If you believe your goods have been wrongly seized by a WRO, contact experienced trade and customs attorney David Hsu for immediate assistance – we have helped many importers and can be reached by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.