WASHINGTON - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a new formal collaboration with Cisco today as part of the Donations Acceptance Program. Under its partnership with CBP, Cisco is donating barcode scanner devices as well as providing secured access to purpose-built tooling so that CBP officers and import specialists may quickly scan and verify the authenticity of Cisco merchandise entering the United States.

Counterfeit goods seized by CBP through its partnership with Cisco.
Counterfeit goods seized by CBP through its partnership with Cisco.
CBP and Cisco have deployed these tools to a limited number of international mail and express consignment facilities to confirm functionality and address technical issues, if any, before implementing on a larger scale. One such facility used the donated scanner/tooling suite during a special operation in August to seize 147 counterfeit Cisco-branded products, with a total MSRP of $958,375. CBP and Cisco are currently exploring additional locations for further deployment.

The Donations Acceptance Program broadly enables CBP to accept donations of real property, personal property (including monetary donations), and non-personal services from public and private sector entities in support of CBP operations. Accepted donations may be used for port of entry construction, alterations, operations, and maintenance activities.

Public-private partnerships are a key component of CBP’s Resource Optimization Strategy and allow CBP to provide new or expanded services and infrastructure at domestic ports of entry.