Not real? Don't take them with you to the US

[Peejay Reyes]

It seems the email I posted a month ago about the travel advisory is legit.  to those who are going to the U.S of A.; ingat nalang sa mga pabilin at pasalubong.

 

 

 

 

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Not real? Don't take them with you to US
First posted 02:16am (Mla time) Oct 08, 2005
By Volt Contreras, Nikko Dizon
Inquirer News Service

BRINGING in Louis Vuitton bags or DVDs to the United States? They had better be the genuine articles.   Entering the US carrying pirated items-from fake audio-video discs, signature fashion products, cosmetics and even books-could land you in jail, the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. warned yesterday.   Citing a travel advisory from the US Commercial Service, the embassy said anyone caught with even a single pirated item faces "automatic deportation in violation of intellectual property rights, or arrest and criminal prosecution, in addition to civil fines and penalties."   The embassy reported that US Customs officials "are also looking into fake designer bags like Louis Vuitton, Coach, Gucci, Prada, etc. as well as cosmetics."   In Manila, the United States Embassy said pirated items would be confiscated at US ports of entry and violators of the US government's Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) or anti-piracy law would be penalized.   "Pirated materials are not allowed to be brought into the US-from clothing, books, CDs, and DVDs," embassy press attaché Matthew Lussenhop told the Inquirer in a phone interview last week. The American Association of Publishers (AAP) had alerted US Customs to include "pirated books" on its hot list.   Pirated books The Philippine Embassy directed the AAP's concerns particularly to the growing number of Filipino nursing graduates applying for jobs in the States and who may be planning to bring along pirated reviewer books for their US eligibility exams.   In the past few weeks, an e-mail had been circulating in the Filipino community that "pirated books," allegedly those brought in by nursing graduates planning to take the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) and Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) exam in the United States, would be confiscated.   Travelers from the Philippines should also be careful that the "pasalubong and padala(gifts)" they would be bringing in to the United States should not include fake or pirated CDs and DVDs, the e-mail added.   The Philippine Embassy cited an undated case documented by the US Department of Homeland Security wherein a Filipino was held at the airport in Detroit upon disembarking from Northwest Airlines Flight 72. The reason? His bag yielded some 80 CDs, 20 DVDs and 40 empty DVD jackets.   Visas canceled Non-US citizens caught violating the ban will have their visas canceled and face immediate deportation while American nationals will be arrested and prosecuted, the embassy said. The embassy also reminded Filipino travelers that, based on the US advisory, they should bring another identification card aside from their passport to help facilitate their entry.