Newsroom

  • Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  • Southern Shrimp Alliance Press Release
    • GAO Study Links Duty Circumvention with Evasion of Food Safety Laws
      FDA is working with Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security to target commodities that pose health and safety risks through Operation Guardian, which is an enforcement initiative to deal with imported substandard, tainted, and counterfeit products. Operation Guardian's efforts have led to seizures of such commodities as pharmaceuticals, steel components, honey, shrimp, and toys.
  • Washington Post  
    • Swarming to arrest honey importers
      The recent crackdown of importers trying to smuggle honey into the U.S. market at prices that undercut domestic producers leads to the arrest of individuals involved in laundering honey to avoid tariffs.

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Government Reports

  • U.S. Department of Justice
    • November 5, 2010 News Release: Honey importer sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $5M in restitution.
    • Plea agreement by Chung Po Liu (8/26/10): According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Liu admits that from 2005 to 2008 he imported 22 shipments of re-labeled Chinese honey. Under the plea terms, Liu must forfeit twice his gross profit – $400,000 – and four seized honey shipments. Prosecutors will ask that he be sentenced to two years in prison.
    • October 29, 2009 News Release: Chinese honey supplier pleads guilty to conspiracy to evade U.S. restrictions on imported honey
    • August 19, 2009 News Release: Chinese national pleads guilty in scheme to defraud U.S. over honey imports. False paperwork used to hide Chinese origin of honey; one shipment tainted with banned chemical
    • May 6, 2009: Washington man and Chinese national charged in honey import conspiracy; Illegal import scheme cost United States millions.
  • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
    • February 17, 2011: A Chinese business agent for several honey import companies was arrested in Los Angeles Tuesday on federal charges filed in Chicago for allegedly conspiring to illegally import Chinese-origin honey that was falsely identified to avoid U.S. anti-dumping duties.
    • April 1, 2010: April Honey importer arrested for allegedly conspiring to evade US import duties for Chicago office of German food distributor.
    • December 17, 2008: Operation Guardian is a multi-agency effort to combat the increasing importation of substandard, tainted and counterfeit products that pose a health and safety risk to consumers.
    • May 27, 2008: Two Chicago executives were arrested on federal charges.
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • Government Accountability Office (GAO)
    Honey was cited as one of the commodities of concern in this GAO report on seafood fraud.
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
    References "Action Plan for Import Safety: A Roadmap for Continual Improvement"