Every international purchase involves much more than receiving a package.

The growth of e-commerce has transformed how people buy products from abroad. However, many consumers are unaware that when they purchase goods through an international platform and receive them in Argentina via courier or door-to-door delivery, they are legally importing them.

This reality presents an increasingly relevant challenge: what happens when the purchased product turns out to be counterfeit? Can someone who made the purchase believing they were acting in good faith be held liable?

The experience of U.S. Customs offers an interesting answer and opens a debate that Argentina still needs to have.

CBP's strategy: inform before you punish

Among the responses that U.S. customs deploys against counterfeit merchandise, there is a tool that does not consist of seizing or sanctioning, but of warning.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) maintains an ongoing consumer awareness campaign through brochures, responsible purchasing guides, and a reporting portal. Its central message is clear: buying counterfeit goods is not a neutral act, and those who do so are not always innocent victims.

This strategy is particularly interesting because it raises a question that Argentina, immersed in the same expansion of international e-commerce, has not yet formulated in sufficient depth.

Suggested external links:
CBP – Fake Goods, Real Dangers: US Customs and Border Protection – Fake Goods, Real Dangers

The consumer as importer

The material produced by CBP focuses on an aspect that often goes unnoticed.

It doesn't just explain that counterfeit goods can be of low quality, dangerous to health, or even finance criminal organizations. It goes a step further and warns that importing counterfeit or pirated merchandise constitutes illegal conduct, and that individual buyers can be subject to consequences even if they did not intend to purchase a fake product.

Responsibility does not end with the foreign seller or the logistics operator. It also extends to the buyer who completes the transaction.

This approach starts from recognizing a reality inherent to modern e-commerce: millions of consumers become importers without realizing it.

Anyone who buys from a foreign platform and receives the product at their home is technically carrying out an import, with the obligations, restrictions and prohibitions that this implies, even if they perceive the operation simply as an online purchase.

The awareness campaign seeks precisely to reduce that gap between legal reality and consumer perception.

A scenario that is becoming increasingly relevant for Argentina

The usefulness of a similar strategy in Argentina becomes evident when observing the evolution of international e-commerce.

The growth of courier and door-to-door purchases has significantly increased the number of consumers who buy products directly from abroad, without the intervention of specialized operators.

The simplification of these regimes has facilitated access to international markets, but it has also multiplied the number of people acting as occasional importers without knowing the applicable legal framework.

Many consumers are unaware that importing counterfeit goods is prohibited and that the consequences can go far beyond simply losing the package.

To learn more about this risk, you can consult our article “Trademark fraud: the silent risk of the digital importer.

The remaining challenge: communicating

The problem lies not in the absence of recipients, but in the lack of information tools.

Traditionally, state communication on foreign trade has been geared towards the professional operator: customs brokers, regular importers, exporters and companies.

The end consumer has remained virtually outside the news radar, despite becoming an increasingly relevant player in international trade.

Today it is necessary to explain to the e-commerce buyer that, from a legal point of view, they are also carrying out an import and what the prohibitions are applicable to the products they acquire.

Implementing an awareness policy would not necessarily require modifying existing legislation.

The rules governing the entry of counterfeit goods and the responsibilities associated with import operations form part of the framework of Customs Law.

What is needed is to translate that regulatory framework into clear language and make it accessible to the consumer through the same channels where they make their purchases.

Inform without generating fear

Any awareness campaign should maintain a proper balance.

The goal cannot be to intimidate the good-faith consumer who was deceived by a seller, but to provide them with tools to reduce risks before finalizing the purchase.

In this respect, the American model is particularly interesting because it combines legal warnings with practical recommendations, such as checking the seller's reputation, being wary of unusually low prices, buying through authorized channels, and reporting potential counterfeits.

Informing without alarming should be the focus of any Argentine adaptation.

An opportunity to improve the model

A local adaptation could even surpass the American model in one important aspect.

Currently, CBP channels are primarily focused on reporting counterfeits once they are detected.

However, nothing would prevent Argentina from incorporating a preventive consultation channel where the consumer could raise doubts before making a purchase.

A mechanism of this kind would strengthen the preventive approach and offer a concrete tool for those who wish to act in good faith and comply with current regulations.

A simple tool with high impact

Among the various measures used by U.S. Customs to combat counterfeiting, the consumer awareness campaign is probably one of the most easily transferable to the Argentine reality.

It does not require creating new bodies or modifying the structure of customs control.

It simply requires assuming that the e-commerce consumer is also an importer and needs to know the rules that govern that status.

In a context where international purchases continue to grow, educating the consumer ceases to be a merely communicational policy and becomes an essential preventive tool.

Counterfeiters will continue to try to enter the market through the same channels. The difference will be that, on the other side, there will be an informed consumer who understands the legal implications of what they choose to buy.

Do you need advice on foreign trade?

At MJE Foreign Trade We advise companies on Customs Law, International Trade, Trade Remedies, Intellectual Property related to foreign trade and regulatory compliance, providing preventative solutions to minimize risks in international operations.

If your company needs specialized assistance, you can contact our team to analyze your operation and receive specific advice.

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Author

Dr. Andrea Zavatto
Attorney – Specialist in Customs Law, Foreign Exchange Law, and Legal Metrology
Director – MJE Comercio Exterior SRL
Consulting Partner – MJE Global (USA)
General Directorate – Dumping Experts

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