Daigou activities can be conducted either illegally[8][9] or legally,[10] often using loopholes to circumvent import tariffs imposed on overseas goods.
[18][19] In June 2019 naval personnel from a Chinese warship berthed in Sydney Harbour, Australia were photographed unloading boxes of baby formula and other products from a large van to carry onto the ship.
[21] Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, suggested that China was evidently hiding the extent of a pandemic that endangered the world while covertly securing PPE at low prices, as this “surreptitious” operation left “the world naked with no supply of PPE.”[22] Such actions have prompted several governments to take actions against Daigou smuggling and hoarding.
Starting from 2012, the New Zealand government has been regularly cracking down and sometimes outright banning unauthorized export of consumer goods through unregistered channels.
[24][25] Some Daigou service providers fraudulently sell counterfeit products that have been altered to appear purchased abroad from legitimate sources.