City of London Police knock 2,000 counterfeit good sites offline
The City of London Police has shut down 2,000 websites selling fake luxury goods since the New Year, as part of its ongoing quest to clampdown on counterfeit product sales. The sites in question were selling knock-off versions of products from popular, high-end fashion brands including Burberry, Longchamp, Oakley and Tiffany. Along with fake products, some of these sites also housed malware and viruses, the City of London Police has warned.
Lear MoreBillion dollar smuggling industry drains Iran’s economy
Habibollah Haghighi, chief of an Iranian task force to combat smuggling, announced that up to $25 billion worth of contraband was smuggled into the country between March 2013 and March 2014. Haghighi’s announcement came during a Jan. 22 meeting in Qom among seminary heads, in which he stated that the “trafficking of contraband goods hindered domestic production and had negative impacts on the economic, health care, medical and cultural sectors.” According to the official, the amount of contraband over the year was double the country’s development budgets.
Lear MoreEngines ‘fake’: NBI
AGENTS of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)National Capital Region raided and seized 150 “fake” motor engines from a warehouse in Barangay Cabancalan, Mandaue City yesterday morning. The raid at the Weld Industrial Sales warehouse stemmed from the complaint filed by Solanda Enterprises, which is based in Intramuros in Manila. The alleged fake engines are worth about P1.5 million, according to Solanda’s product manager Chris Rubiano. We have been receiving complaints from our customers since last year that the motor engines they bought (from Weld) would easily get damaged,” he said in Tagalog. “Our company’s name is at stake here.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2015/02/13/engines-fake-nbi-391879
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Illinois cigarette smuggling ranks 14th in the nation, study says
Illinois has the 14th highest cigarette smuggling rate in the country. That’s according to a study by the Non-Partisan Tax Foundation. If you’re caught smuggling cigarettes into the state, the Department of Revenue can pursue taxes owed. West Quincy’s A&D Discount Tobacco cashier Stella Stark says Illinoisans buy cigarettes in bulk all the time, but it’s almost impossible to know for sure if they’re bootlegging them.
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Over-regulation of cigarettes threatens rule of law and Good Friday Agreement
As the MP for North Antrim, I am still reeling from the news that 1,000 jobs in my constituency are set to be lost with the closure of the JTI/Gallaher tobacco factory. The devastation that this will cause to the area cannot be overstated. There are some who would see this as the inevitable fallout from the decline in smoking rates, but in truth much of the blame lies with the over-regulation of the tobacco industry, and those who championed it. And it is these same lobby groups that are pressurising the Irish and UK governments to rush ahead with plans to introduce plain packaging of tobacco products which Minister James Reilly has recently stated will be debated in the Dáil on February 17.
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Chamber Calls For Intensive Campaign Against Smuggling
Africa Chamber of Commerce, Mr Foluso Phillips, yesterday in Lagos called on regulatory bodies to beef up their campaign against smuggling. Phillips who made the appeal in an interview with newsmen stressed that the phenomenon was on the rise because the regulatory bodies were not as firm as they should be. So when you talk about fake products, I will turn around and say it behooves on the Customs and NAFDAC to do their work.
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Fake-free China might not be better off
Pseudo-Prada bags, sham Apple stores, even artificial eggs – China’s ability to generatefake versions of familiar items is legendary. Around three-quarters of knock-off goods seized by U.S. and European customs come from the People’s Republic. The government has been talking a good game, including what looks like a new focus on fake goods sold via the country’s biggest e-commerce company, Alibaba. The trouble is that incentives aren’t straightforward. While copying hurts innovation and trust, a counterfeit-free China wouldn’t be good for everyone.
http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2015/02/11/fake-free-china-might-not-be-better-off/
Lear MoreRevenue officials say cigarette smuggling is growing
Minnesota revenue officials say they need an additional $1 million annually to crack down on cigarette smugglers and retailers selling untaxed tobacco. Authorities say cigarette smuggling has become a growing problem less than two years after Minnesota raised its cigarette tax to one of the highest in the country. The Star Tribune says revenue officials seized or assessed untaxed tobacco products in more than 40 percent of the 374 retail inspections conducted through the first three quarters of 2014.
Lear More$3 million worth of fake cigarettes seized in Malaysia
Authorities here have foiled attempts by a syndicate to use Malaysia as a transit point to ship RM7.7mil (S$2.9 million) worth of counterfeit cigarettes to the middle east. The syndicate which apparently produced the Gauloises Blondes brand counterfeits in a neighbouring country had attempted to ship out to Lebanon and Turkey some 154,500 cartons which were in transit at Westport when officers from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry seized them.
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Vietnam orders tobacco firms to pay more for anti-smuggling fund
Vietnamese tobacco firms have been asked to more than triple their contribution to a compulsory funding initiative aimed at cracking down on contraband in the country. According to a new regulation, the Tobacco Association is now required to pay VND3,500 (16 US cents) for each smuggled or counterfeit 20-cigarette pack confiscated in Vietnam, local media reported. The rule is applied for all cigarettes, irrespective of the brand. The old fee was VND1,100 a pack.
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