Ficci Cascade constitutes Think Tank
New Delhi: FICCI’s dedicated vertical, Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy [CASCADE] has constituted a think tank which will advise, direct and provide necessary inputs in formulating a strong & effective future course of action to eliminate the menace of illicit trade. With the ever changing scenario of technology, trade policies and development of the law on the subject, the constitution of a Think Tank to guide and suggest inputs in mitigating this challenges arising out of illicit trade practices is opportune.
The Think tank comprises Ajay Shankar, Former Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP),Govt of India; Anil Sinha, Former Director, Central Bureau of Investigation; Hem Kumar Pande , Former Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; Kameswari Subramanian, International Expert, Customs Law, Procedures & Trade Facilitation; Justice Manmohan Sarin, Former Lokayukta, NCT of Delhi, Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, Judge, High Court of Delhi; Najib Shah, Former Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs; Narendra K Sabharwal, Chairman, FICCI IP Committee & Former Deputy Director General, WIPO; Neeraj Kumar, Former Commissioner, Delhi Police; P K Malhotra. Former Secretary Law, Ministry of Law and Justice; Sanjeev Tripathi, Former Chief, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW); Vikram Srivastava, Former Director General, Central Reserve Police Force and Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE.
http://www.millenniumpost.in/business/ficci-cascade-constitutes-think-tank-311237
Lear MoreFicci Cascade Forms 12-Member Think Tank To Fight Illicit Trade
Industry chamber Ficci’s anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting arm, Ficci CASCADE today said it has roped in ex-DIPP secretary Ajay Shankar and former CBI director Anil Sinha, among others, to form a think tank as part of efforts to curb illicit trade practices.
Ficci CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) said in a statement that it has constituted a think tank which will advise and provide necessary inputs in formulating a strong and effective future course of action to eliminate the menace of illicit trade.
The other members of the think tank include Hem Kumar Pande, former secretary in ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution; Justice Manmohan Sarin, former Lokayukta, NCT of Delhi and Najib Shah, ex-chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
Ex-Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar; former Research and Analysis Wing chief Sanjeev Tripathi; ex-Director General, CRPF Vikram Srivastava, international expert Kameswari Subramanian and Anil Rajput, Chairman, Ficci CASCADE are also members of the think tank, the statement added.
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Malaysian woman caught for smuggling over 200 cartons of contraband cigarettes via Tuas Checkpoint
SINGAPORE – The authorities seized a total of 227 cartons and 1,366 packets of contraband cigarettes on Monday afternoon (July 16) at Tuas Checkpoint.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday morning, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that officers had found the duty-unpaid cigarettes stashed away in various compartments of a Malaysia-registered car at about 1.25pm.
From the pictures ICA posted, the cigarettes were concealed in places such as the inside of the car’s modified dashboard, front bumper, and rear fender.
The car was driven by a 42-year-old Malaysian woman. The case has been handed over to Singapore Customs.
Just last Friday, the ICA had seized around $19,200 worth of duty-unpaid cigarettes that had been concealed using similar methods, also involving a Malaysian driver and a Malaysia-registered car.
Lear MoreNeither an Authentic Product nor a Counterfeit: The Growing Popularity of Shanzhai Products in Global Markets.
Counterfeits have been a longstanding concern to global brand manufactures. However, recently, a new product category that partly imitates and partly innovates under the term shanzhai has entered into market. Shanzhai products mimic original leading brands through visual or functional similarities and may also provide additional features. Given this new copycat phenomenon, our study for the first time conceptually distinguishes shanzhai products from counterfeits, theoretically compares the values of consumers choosing shanzhai products versus counterfeits, and empirically tests such differences in one integrative model. Specifically, shanzhai buyers value product functional benefits more than counterfeit buyers, while counterfeit buyers value status consumption, yet experience less self‐clarity than shanzhai buyers. Our findings offer important implications for imitative innovation literature as well as for practitioners.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cjas.1501
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INDIA’S COASTLINE PROTECTION FLEET – AN OVERVIEW
India is a predominantly maritime nation, with a coastline of 7,517 km. This influences all the spheres of Indian lifestyle, from trade to tourism. India’s peninsular orientation dominates trade connectivity with the rest of the world. Consequently, it is seen that safe sea trade is a direct influencer of the economic prosperity of the country. Even today, 90% of India’s trade, by volume, is made via sea routes, making security and safety imperative.
Tourism has developed in the coastal regions of India, necessitating better safety equipment and technological efficiency in boats and ships. Additionally, the vast biodiversity of our marine ecosystem needs constant protection and conservation. The rising threat of piracy and terrorism makes border control a very serious matter.
Given the influence of the seas on the economic and social stability of India, a strong defence force for the protection of the coast and marine territories is important. As we have seen previously, the responsibility of protecting our coastline is broadly divided between three principal forces, viz., the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Border Security Force.
In this article, we see what the functions are, in maritime protection, and the vessels used by these forces that help them work efficiently.
Avenues of Marine Protection
Maritime Security
Protection of India’s territorial integrity, residents, and offshore assets from external, seaborne threats is the principal avenue of marine protection, handled by the Indian Navy. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the Navy to deter conflict and coercion in these waters.
Coastal and Offshore Defence
Coastal and offshore defence is a part of maritime security and is primarily focused along the coastline, baseline, internal waters, and to an extent in the territorial waters. Though the overall management of the coastal and offshore defence operations falls under the purveyance of the Indian Navy, services are provided by other state and central forces such as the Indian Coast Guard, Border Security Force, State Police, Other Armed Forces, Central Industrial Security Force, Intelligence Agencies, Customs and Immigration Authorities, Port Trust Authority, and Shipping and Energy Operators.
https://www.shmgroup.com/blog/indias-coastline-protection-fleet-an-overview/
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Burberry burns unsold products worth £28.6 million to guard against counterfeiting; is it ethical?
Reportedly, the retailers said that the measure was much needed to prevent illegal counterfeiting by ensuring the supply chain remains intact.
Luxury label Burberry destroyed unsold clothes, accessories, cosmetic products and perfume worth more than £28 million (more than Rs 250 crore) over the past one year. This step was taken to guard the brand’s intellectual property against counterfeiting. As per Guardian‘s report, in a practice understood to be common across the retail industry, the luxury brand burned products including £10.4 million worth of beauty items. Reportedly, the retailers said that the measure was much needed to prevent illegal counterfeiting by ensuring the supply chain remains intact.
However, industry people and social media users are criticising this act and calling out on how the brands have often shown disrespect for its own produce. To understand if this practice is ethical or not, indianexpress.com reached out to financial advisor Safir Anand, who handle designers like Manish Malhotra and Gaurav Gupta.
Burberry burns unsold products worth £28.6 million to guard against counterfeiting; is it ethical?
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Airport bust uncovers 4.5 MILLION cigarettes disguised as toilet paper as accused smuggler faces court over the contraband.
Officers have seized 4.5 million undeclared cigarettes being smuggled into the country and arrested a duel citizen over the bust.
Australian Border Force officers stopped the 43-year-old man for a baggage search at the Melbourne International Airport on Sunday after uncovering a massive haul of smuggled tobacco.
A six day raid in April uncovered three shipping containers at the Melbourne Container Examination Facility and were marked as containing toilet paper, kitchen paper towels and napkins.
After being stopped and checked at the airport the dual national was arrested in connection to the smuggled contraband. Each shipment allegedly contained 1,500,000 undeclared cigarettes which represents a $3.2 million loss of taxation for the Australian government.
Assistant Commissioner Enforcement Command, Sharon Huey said ABF is seeing an increase in the amount of illicit tobacco being seized in Victoria.
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Smugglers hide 10,200 cigarette packs, chewing tobacco in truck carrying sand.
Muscat: Oman Customs busted smugglers attempting to bring in 10,200 packets of illegal cigarettes and 600 kilograms of chewing tobacco into the country by hiding them underneath a load of sand on a truck.
Oman Customs said in its statement: “The Wadi Al Jizi border customs foiled a unique smuggling operation of 10,200 packets of forbidden cigarettes and 600 kilograms of chewing tobacco, where the suspect has professionally hidden them in a truck loaded with sand.”
Smugglers have been caught trying to bring contraband and illegal substances into the country in a variety of techniques, with customs officers arresting an expatriate at Muscat airport earlier this year, who was carrying 8.7 kg of marijuana and 1,285 narcotic tablets that were covered with carbon paper.
http://timesofoman.com/article/136307
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NT$10 million in smuggled tobacco seized in Pingtung.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) busted a tobacco smuggling operation in Pingtung County late Monday night and seized NT$10 million (US$333,667) worth of smuggled cigarettes, the CGA said Tuesday.
In a statement, the CGA said officers from its southern office seized 160,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes with a market value of NT$10 million from a Donggang-registered fishing boat called the “Chang Sheng” and arrested five crew members, including the captain.
The CGA, which worked on the case with the Kaohsiung Harbor Police Department, said the busting of the smuggling operation came after a month of effort following up on tip-offs and collecting evidence on the fishing boat’s moves.
Just after the fishing boat arrived in Donggang at around 11 p.m. Monday, CGA officers boarded the vessel and conducted a search that found the 160,000 packs of cigarettes stuffed into 331 big boxes hidden in the lower deck of the boat, the CGA said.
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201805290013.aspx
Lear MoreDRI, Assam Rifles seize 12 kg gold smuggled from Myanmar in Manipur
Department of Revenue Intelligence sleuths and Assam Rifles troopers, in a joint operation on Thursday, seized over 12 kg of gold valued at Rs 3.62 crore in Manipur, said a release.
The raid, conducted on the basis of specific intelligence developed by DRI, unearthed gold from the India-Myanmar border at Moreh.
The joint team stopped two vehicles at Khudengthabi travelling from Moreh towards Imphal for checking, and found gold biscuits hidden inside the front and rear tyre of both cars.
Two persons have been apprehended, the DRI release said. The gold has been seized under the Customs Act.
DRI is the lead agency to combat cross border crime involving smuggling of gold, consumer goods, drugs and narcotics, wild life articles, Fake Indian Currency Notes and counterfeit goods, import-export frauds and trade based money laundering.
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