Tracing Parallel Imports
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Gray market goods undermine prices and tarnish trade names; PIERS helps a food importer Khong Guan fight back.
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Gray market goods not only undercut legitimate market prices, they tarnish trade names.
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Alas, Albert Lin is no stranger to these compound concerns.
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Lin heads Khong Guan, importers of quality brand sauces, cookies, snacks, and beverages made in Asia, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and China.
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"As the sole authorized U.S. agent for many Asian manufacturers, we are naturally upset when parallel imports of the specialty food products they intended for sale in Asian markets start showing up on American grocery shelves," says Lin.
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"Food products are formulated for local markets," he explains. "For example, sauces bound for the U.S. are formulated to stand up to temperature extremes. A sauce formulated for the uniformly hot weather of the Philippines will separate in the cold of a New England winter. The Philippines also has a shorter shelf life than the one-year standard in the U.S."
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Beyond disappointing consumers, parallel imports may not be in compliance with standards set by such government watchdogs as the Food and Drug Administration. "And the FDA holds the manufacturer and distributor listed on the label responsible: they don't care how the product got on the shelves," remarks Lin.
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Fortunately, Lin was able to identify - and take steps to stop - the parties responsible for the unauthorized imports using the transaction-level detail provided in PIERS import-export trade data.
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On a more recent - and more ominous - note, Lin has been using PIERS data to track down identity thieves using his company's name for illicit imports. "This is the kind of suspect activity the Bioterrorism Act is aimed at," says Lin, who is working with Homeland Security to monitor the cargo until it is claimed and the receiving party, at least, is revealed. "The good thing about the PIERS data is that you can track cargo movements straight through to their destination."
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