New measures have been taken by the Hong Kong Customs & Excise Department to reduce the number of illegal imports of counterfeit cosmetics.

Following a surge in counterfeit Korean cosmetics entering the country, the customs department is urging brands to register their full Intellectual Property details with customs in improve the identification process of fake products.

Hong Kong Customs has contacted the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea to encourage Korean brand owners to register product information.

The action is in response to 51 cases involving counterfeit cosmetics imports between March 2013 and February 2015, in which 74 people were arrested and goods of over HK$1.3 million were seized.

During the first two months of this year, Customs recorded three cases of counterfeit imports of a popular Korean cosmetics brand. A total of 109 counterfeit items including CC cream, lip gross, mascara and face masks were seized.

For overseas brand owners, the Customs department has introduced video conferencing and 3D printing technology to help facilitate the IP identification process.