Girl used in tobacco-smuggling operation
TWO men were arrested after a 14-year-old girl was caught crossing over from the occupied areas with 10 kilos of tobacco, police said on Wednesday. The men, 33 and 25, are Nicosia residents. They are being investigated for illegally possessing untaxed goods, and smuggling.
At around 7:20pm on Tuesday, police said, customs stopped the young girl at the Ledra Palace checkpoint in Nicosia and found she was carrying 10 kilos of tobacco from the north.
In collaboration with police, they followed her to a meeting point at a parking area There, she met the two men who were in a car.
http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/03/09/girl-used-tobacco-smuggling-operation/
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Cigarettes: MEPs oppose renewing EU anti-smuggling deals with tobacco firms
MEPs urge the EU Commission to use all possible EU and international legal tools to combat cigarette smuggling© AP Images/European Union – EP
A majority of MEPs urged the European Commission not to renew an EU anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting deal with Philip Morris International (PMI), which expires in July 2016, in a resolution voted on Wednesday. Instead, they ask it to focus on using EU and international legislative tools to combat smuggling.
MEPs note that the PMI deal proved ineffective because although it initially reduced smuggling, a surge in smuggled non-branded “cheap white” cigarettes soon filled the gap.
Influx of fake agro-chemical products worrying
The influx of fake and adulterated agro-chemical products on the market is a big concern for agri-businesses, and there has been a call for the collective support of all stakeholders in the agro-chemical industry to overcome this menace.
The development where people continue selling fake products to farmers poses a big challenge particularly to industry players, despite ongoing effort to tackle it; such products flooding the market are part of the reasons for low yields being recorded by farmers across the country.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Influx-of-fake-agro-chemical-products-worrying-421755
Lear MoreNamibian court fines Zim truck drivers for cigarette smuggling
Harare – Two Zimbabwean truck drivers, who were arrested last year over the smuggling of contraband cigarettes through Namibia, have been sentenced to a fine of N$108 000 each or 13 years in jail.
The men were arrested on May 6, 2015. They were driving two trucks laden with a consignment of cigarettes valued at N$11.3 million, Namibian newspaper New Era has reported.
Black market: Online brand protection
Counterfeit sites and goods are proliferating across several sectors. How can brands protect themselves online from fraudsters, cheats and copycats? Brittany Golob investigates
Perhaps a woman buys a new Louis Vuitton handbag, at a bit of a discount, through a third party website. It arrives and soon after, the handle breaks. She takes it to an LV retailer only to discover that her bag is not the genuine article. She, like 24% of global shoppers, has unknowingly purchased a counterfeit item online, according to the ‘Global consumer shopping habits survey’ carried out by online brand protection company MarkMonitor.
http://www.transformmagazine.net/articles/2016/black-market-online-brand-protection/
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RongKluea Vendors Given Time to Sell Counterfeits
In response to a Thai military crackdown on counterfeit products in multiple Cambodian-owned stores and warehouses at the RongKluea market on Saturday morning, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Cambodian vendors will be given until the end of April to sell off their remaining counterfeit goods before they are subject to more Thai intervention.
“The Thai authorities will not implement the clearance of [fake] copyright goods in Sakaeo province until the end of April 2016,” Ministry Spokesman Chum Sounry’s statement read.
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22349/rong-kluea-vendors-given-time-to-sell-counterfeits/
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HMRC hails huge cut in UK tobacco fraud
HM Revenue and Customs says it has halved the size of the UK’s illicit cigarette market and cut that for illicit hand-rolling tobacco by a third. The agency has announced that, working with other enforcement bodies between April and September last year, it seized more than 600m illicit cigarettes and 137 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco, with a combined tax value of £232m. Almost 200 people were prosecuted and 100 convicted of tobacco excise fraud during that period.
Among those arrested was an employee of the Ugandan high commission, who was sentenced to six years in prison. The official had abused diplomatic privileges by purchasing large quantities of hand-rolling tobacco from duty free and then selling it on the black market without paying tax or duty. In total he obtained 28 tonnes of tobacco, equal to 44.8m cigarettes, which represents £4.8m in lost revenue.
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/03/06/hmrc-hails-huge-cut-in-uk-tobacco-fraud/
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More than 10,000 fake beauty products seized in Abu Dhabi
More than 10,000 counterfeit beauty and skincare products have been seized in an operation launched in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development said its Commercial Protection Directorate unit had seized 10,231 products in Mussaffah, Abu Dhabi. It also issued 12 fines against vehicle owners who transported products without a licence in Zayed City Centre in Abu Dhabi and the Industrial Zone in Mussaffah, news agency WAM reported.
Ahmed Tarish Al Qubaisi, CPD acting director, said that the campaigns will continue to combat commercial fraud in the emirate and put an end to unlicensed commercial activities.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/more-than-10-000-fake-beauty-products-seized-in-abu-dhabi-623463.html
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More than 600m illicit cigarettes seized by HMRC in six months
Between April and September 2015, hundreds of millions of cigarettes and 137 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco worth £232m in unpaid duty found. More than 600m illicit cigarettes and 137 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco with a tax value of £232m were seized by the government in the space of six months in 2015.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the figures showed the department was reducing the illicit trade but that it remained a “significant problem”.
An HMRC spokesman said by working with other enforcement agencies it had halved the size of the illicit market in cigarettes and that of illicit hand-rolling tobacco by a third.
RongKluea raids net another B10m in fake goods 5 Mar 2016
Authorities have seized another 10 million baht worth of counterfeit brand-name goods in raids on the notorious RongKluea border market, where they have vowed to wipe out the knock-off trade by the end of April. Police and soldiers from the Burapha Task Force, with search warrants from the provincial court, led local authorities to raid two locations near the market in Aranyaprathet district on Saturday and confiscated numerous fake products. The operation followed a similar crackdown on Thursday night at five locations.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/887064/rong-kluea-raid-nets-b10m-in-fakes
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