U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working with companies, including Amazon, 3M and Pfizer, to stop counterfeit COVID-19 supplies from entering the country, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The companies have agreed to share information with ICE about vendors selling medical supplies that they deem suspect. They will work together to identify suspicious shipments and take down suspicious online listings for medical supplies related to COVID-19.
"This information-sharing effort allows the government to then make more informed decisions about targeting suspicious international shipments," Lev Kubiak, chief security officer for Pfizer, told the Journal.
The partnership also includes Merck, Citigroup and Alibaba Group.
U.S. officials said they anticipate a surge of counterfeit or subpar imported goods, and they have found a significant number of imported face masks don't meet certification standards, according to the Journal.
"It poses a serious health concern to the American public when they are wearing face masks that they think have the protection of N95 masks but are really substandard," Steve Francis, director of ICE’s National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center told the Journal.
So far, Customs and Border Protection has seized about 500 shipments of unauthorized products, including protective equipment and fake COVID-19 tests.
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