Dangerous counterfeit vodka ‘thought to have been sold in Chester’
Dangerous counterfeit vodka which could cause blindness and seizures is thought to have been sold in Chester . The bootleg booze was ‘Chekov’-branded but found to contain high levels of methanol, which is ‘extremely poisonous’ and can cause organ failure and death in extreme cases. Trading Standards said the vodka was ‘thought to have been sold in the Halton and Chester areas’. The fake product is a counterfeit version of the genuine Chekov brand sold by Booker Wholesale.
ICE cracks down on counterfeit NFL products
SAN JOSE, Calif — Just days ahead of Super Bowl 50, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced that they have seized at least $20 million of counterfeit NFL merchandise. The fake swag was confiscated in various locations from San Francisco down to the South Bay. Bruce Foucart, the director of Homeland Security Intellectual Property Rights, said officers have seized all sorts of bogus merchandise over the last couple weeks, including hats, t-shirts and replica Super Bowl rings. These poor quality products are bad for a number of reasons, according to Foucart. “We estimate that the U-S economy loses between $250 billion and $300 billion to counterfeiting every year. But beyond just being bad for business, Foucart said there is a far bigger problem than just hurting the bottom line of the wealthy NFL. “We’ve seen an instance where an individual has sold these goods and invested it (the earnings) in guns to carry out terrorist attacks overseas,” said Foucart.
http://www.kionrightnow.com/news/local-news/ice-cracks-down-on-counterfeit-nfl-products/37808892
Lear MoreNew Brunswick Budget Makes Contraband Tobacco Worse
The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) said that the New Brunswick government’s decision to increase tobacco taxes by 6.52 cents per cigarette will only serve to fuel the province’s growing contraband tobacco problem. The increase in taxes – more than $14 per carton when the increased HST is considered – is actually more than the cost of many illegal cigarettes.”Illegal cigarettes are a growing and significant problem in New Brunswick, and an increase in the cost of legal product will only serve to make this problem worse,” said Gary Grant, a 39-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service and national spokesperson for the NCACT. “The RCMP indicates that a steady stream of contraband tobacco is making its way into and through the province from factories in Quebec and Ontario. If anything, the smugglers are adapting their smuggling networks to make it even harder for police to disrupt their shipments.”
http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/new-brunswick-budget-makes-contraband-tobacco-worse-567402201.html
HUL, Colgate, Nestle are getting fake Patanjali products tested in labs: Baba Ramdev
They were doing this because they fear his firm is winning over customers, believes Ramde. Yoga guru Ramdev has gone offensive against global consumer goods makers as his Patanjali brand fights for market share against the top-selling products of Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and Colgate-Palmolive. Ramdev accused them on Monday of conspiring against Patanjali by getting fake and adulterated products tested in laboratories for irregular results. They were doing this because they fear his firm is winning over customers, he said. “Multinational firms like Hindustan Unilever, Colgate and Nestle are bribing people to get fake and adulterated Patanjali products tested in labs,” Ramdev said at a press briefing. “Sometimes they even produce reports from fake laboratories to malign us.” Nestle denied the accusation.
Residents warned to be on lookout for dangerous fake Chekov vodka in circulation
RESIDENTS are being warned after police stated a batch of dangerous fake vodka which may put lives at risk could be in distribution around the region. A quantity of counterfeit alcohol and tobacco was seized from a vehicle in Runcorn during a joint operation by the police and Halton Trading Standards and further supplies of fake alcohol were found at another address in Halton. And initial investigations suggest the product could be in circulation around the North-West.Tests of the fake Chekov brand vodka have found the product contains very high levels of methanol, which is extremely poisonous and can cause blindness, seizure, organ failure and in extreme cases death. The product is a counterfeit version of a genuine product sold by the brand owner Booker Wholesale. It is thought the product has been sold in the Halton and Chester areas but initial investigations suggest the product could also be in circulation throughout the North West.
Suspected counterfeiter arrested at SIA Snow Show
A Chinese man has been arrested at a trade exhibition on suspicion of manufacturing and selling fake ballistic eyewear. The arrest at the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show in Denver was of Gong Peiwen (also known as Daniel Gong ), part owner of Guangzhou Botai Optical Visor which is accused of producing fake versions of a ballistic google product manufactured by Vermont company Revision Military. The company assisted in the operation, which saw Gong taken into custody on the showroom floor and arrest warrants issued for brothers Jiang Xingde and Jiang Xinglin – also co-owners of Guangzhou Botai – and Ding Xiaoxia, also known as Crystal Ding.
Gold smugglers switching over to cigarettes, currencies
In past 18 months, department of revenue intelligence has seized 50 containers of cigarettes, valued at nearly Rs 200 cr.
With the channel set three years ago to import gold illegally into the country not giving enough returns to cover the risk involved, operators of these channels – the smugglers, in simple words – are now increasingly switching over to illegal import of cigarettes. This is because of the “much higher RoI (return on investment)”, according to intelligence officials. The cost of a Rs 10 cigarette typically goes up to Rs 220 if imported legally. That is the margin the smugglers can corner, since they don’t pay import duty. Even if they pass on some of the benefit from the evaded duty, they still make a good amount of profit.
Among other items these dealers are focusing on for unofficial imports are foreign currencies, especially those of West Asian countries.
Enforcing IPR Can Save Piracy
Louise Van Greunen, director, World Intellectual Property Organisation, talks about counterfeiting and the need for enforcing IPR.
Q: What are the global challenges in enforcing the IPR?
A: The enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) is crucial for building a sound system of IP protection. Ensuring the effectiveness of enforcement of IPR that is sustainable is a challenge in itself. Therefore, a major challenge is to ensure smooth dialogue and cooperation between various stakeholders. In the globalised world, international cooperation between law enforcement agencies, custom authorities, and judicial authorities is a big challenge.
http://www.businessworld.in/article/-Enforcing-IPR-Can-Save-Piracy-/29-01-2016-90708/
Lear MoreOSRAM in fight against lamp fakes
The increasingly high incidence of fake OSRAM Xenon (HID) light sources has led the company to introduce a system that enables consumers to easily check them out. Aimed at drivers whose cars use these types of lamp, this new facility is called the Trust Program, and it is designed to ensure that drivers do not have to suffer from premature bulb failures or poor headlight beams.Fake and counterfeited products, many of them from China, have been a serious and growing problem for years. Any counterfeit product is likely to be poor quality, but the problem is much more serious for electrical products because fakes – apart from not working well (or at all) – are often potentially or actually dangerous.Two-step security check; OSRAM says that its headlight bulbs (‘light sources’ are called ‘bulbs’ for consumers) are continually being copied illegally by product pirates. So, to protect consumers from low-quality fakes, the company has launched its own Trust Program. This uses a two-step security check, enabling consumers to easily verify whether the lamps they have bought are OSRAM originals that have been manufactured in accordance with international quality and safety standards.
http://www.voltimum.co.uk/articles/osram-fight-against-lamp-fakes
Lear MoreSmuggled cigarettes pour into Vietnam from Cambodia ahead of Lunar New Year holiday
Large volumes of cigarettes are being smuggled from Cambodia to Vietnam as the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday approaches, despite Vietnamese authorities’ efforts to deter the situation.Officers in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang have recently busted the largest ever cigarette smuggling operation, confiscating 18,500 packs of tobacco, Colonel Le Quoc Viet, captain of the local border guards, affirmed on Wednesday.At 9:00 pm on Tuesday, police spotted two speedboats with suspicious signs traveling from Cambodia to Vietnam in the waters off of An Phu District, An Giang. They decided to surround the targets and carry out an inspection.Four suspects quickly escaped after they noticed the officers, leaving behind their boats loaded with smuggled cigarettes, worth a combined value of VND320 million (US$14,345), according to local police.The suspects gathered their illegal goods in Takeo Province, Cambodia then disguised themselves as fishery product traders to enter Vietnam, officers said.
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