Chennai a thriving market for fake goods: EIPR
Chennai: Raids conducted recently by CB-CID sleuths at various bag outlets in the city after receiving a tip-off from Enforcers of Intellectual and Property Rights (EIPR) have unearthed a rather worrying scenario.
Over 220 fake bags were seized from three outlets at T Nagar, according to sources. The police have already arrested three persons— S MadharBasha (31), M Bala (26) and Mohammed Ibrahim (27), under relevant provisions of Sections 420, 482 and 486 of the IPC.
http://newstodaynet.com/chennai/chennai-thriving-market-fake-goods-eipr
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PSNI seize 60,000 suspected smuggled cigarettes in South Armagh
The police have seized 60,000 suspected smuggled cigarettes after stopping a van in South Armagh.
One man was arrested and the vehicle impounded in the operation in the Crossmaglen area on Tuesday. A PSNI spokesman said the vehicle was stopped by Tactical Support Group officers and the incident is being investigating by them and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/psni-seize-60000-suspected-smuggled-10728065
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£100k fake DVD racket man jailed
A fraudster caught buying and selling bogus DVDs in a scam worth nearly £100,000 on ebay has been jailed. Paul Foster imported fake box sets of hit TV series from China and delivered to his home in Penkridge. He then sold thousands of the DVDs on the auction website without the necessary consent of trademark owners, Stafford Crown Court heard.
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2016/01/12/100k-fake-dvd-racket-man-jailed/
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NAFDAC: Winning the war against counterfeiters
The National Agency for Foods Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has undoubtedly played its primary role effectively in the regulation and control of production, distribution, advertisement, sales of food products, drugs and water as well as usage of, importation and exportation of medical devices, cosmetic products and chemicals. In this way they ensure that they adequately safeguard the populace against sub-standard, poorly manufactured and badly packaged products.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2016/01/nafdac-winning-the-war-against-counterfeiters/
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China Remains Top Source of Counterfeit Tech Goods, Industry Group Says
As a technology journalist working in Hong Kong throughout the 1990s, I witnessed firsthand the rampant piracy of U.S. software products, an unabashedly open and institutionalized peddling of stolen intellectual property. While that activity might not be quite as brazen now as it was then, AGMA, a non-profit organization of tech companies focused on IP protection in the high-tech industry, says China remains the largest source of counterfeit technology products in the world.
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SON introduces reference code to curb fake products’ influx
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, has announced that it has taken additional measures to curb the influx of substandard goods into the country by introducing a reference code on products in 2016.
Director General, SON, Joseph Odumodu, explained that henceforth, every SONCAP certifi cate issued on products must have reference code to ease traceability of substandard products in the country.
Lear MoreTaxing the smoker
The GCC’s proposal to raise tobacco tariffs is being welcomed by health experts but will it be effective in curbing smoking and earning much-needed revenue? A sharp hike in tobacco tariffs could further fuel an already illicit cigarette market in the Middle East. Experts suggest that governments introduce excise taxes to raise revenue instead of doubling customs tariffs.
Taxes, if imposed, should be moderate and uniform across the Gulf and raised gradually to discourage smuggling, according to experts.
https://www.zawya.com/story/Would_proposed_GCC_tobacco_taxes_curb_smoking-ZAWYA20160110101129/
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Unauthorised sellers via social media face Dh25,000 fine
People selling products on social networks could be fined Dh25,000 and have their account shut in case they are not authorised dealers or their products are flawed, a UAE economy official was reported on Saturday as saying.
Stern measures will also be taken against local websites dealing in fake or flawed products in the UAE, said Mohammed Lootah, Deputy Executive Director for Consumer Protection and Trade Control at the Department of Economic Development. (DED).
£110k cash handover leads to smuggling gang downfall
A south Armagh man who unwittingly brought down a UK crime gang after he was caught with more than £100,000 of their cash has walked free from court on a suspended sentence for money laundering. Vincent McGeough, from the Caramoyle Estate in Keady, was part of a gang involved in the smuggling of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of illicit cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol into the UK.
REVEALED: Counterfeit cigarettes on sale throughout Tooting as reporter goes undercover with former Met Police officer
The illicit cigarette trade costs the treasury £2.1bn a year – and it is happening right under our noses. At corner shops, in car washes, and in transactions outside tube stations, people are buying and selling untaxed cigarettes smuggled into the country by organised criminal networks.In the worst instances, counterfeit cigarettes are pumped full of anything from rat droppings, to human faeces.
Pounding the streets week in, week out, to help this trade come to an end is Will O’Reilly and his team.A former officer in the Metropolitan Police, Mr O’Reilly has now turned his attention to spotting and rooting out those who sell counterfeit and contraband cigarettes.
The work takes the team around the country, scouting out towns and testing shops and pubs for the goods, before passing the information they’ve gleaned onto trading standards and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
http://vietnamnews.vn/opinion/281329/counterfeiters-more-sophisticated.html
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