‘Branded’ Facial Tissues Were Made From Used Toilet Paper
People in China have been warned to check their tissues carefully after a couple sold 300 tonnes worth of ‘branded’ paper products made from used toilet rolls. The husband and wife, known as Mr Li and Ms Jie, owned an illegal paper processing plant in Pei County, eastern China, reported People’s Daily Online. There, they used old napkins, papers and even toilet rolls to create tissues which they sold as branded products. Over the two years that they were in business, the manufacturer made 2 million Yuan (£200,000). The operation was extremely secretive and neighbours said that the front door to the 4,305 square foot farm house was always shut. In addition, the workers only came in during the night. One local resident commented: ‘The loading and unloading also only happens at night.’ Inside the processing factory, the full scope of the unlawful process was revealed.
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Fake oregano in UK
A new investigation into food fraud in the UK has claimed 25% of dry oregano on sale in the market contain ingredients other than herb. According to details published by consumer group Which?, of 78 samples tested one-quarter were found to contain oregano mixed with other dried leaves, such as olive and myrtle leaves. These unlabelled filler ingredients constituted between 30% and 70% of the product. The investigation was led by Professor Chris Elliott, director of the Institute for Global Food Security and the author of the UK government’s review into the horsemeat scandal. Prof. Elliott said his findings identified a “major problem” that “may well reflect issues with other herbs and spices that enter the British Isles through complex supply chains”. He continued: “Much better controls are needed to protect the consumer from purchasing heavily contaminated products.” Which? called on regulators and the industry to take action in order to stamp out food fraud. Executive director Richard Lloyd, stressed: “It’s impossible for any shopper to tell, without the help of scientists, what herbs they’re actually buying. Retailers, producers and enforcement officers must step up checks to stamp out food fraud.”
http://www.just-food.com/news/fake-oregano-on-sale-in-uk-tests_id130665.aspx
Lear MoreAnti-tobacco drive: Health dept wants cooperation from excise
The Punjab health department on Thursday asked the excise and taxation department to coordinate with it in the campaign against illegal hookah bars and the other establishments flouting anti-tobacco laws. In a communiqué to the financial commissioner (excise and taxation), health department principal secretary Vini Mahajan has sought instruction for the field staff to ensure that every tobacco-product pack carries the mandatory pictorial warning that smoking is injurious to health. “This way, the illicit manufacturing and trade of tobacco products can be checked to a large extent,” she stated.
Lear MoreMahajan asks Excise & Tax dept to fight against tobacco menace
Punjab’s Principal Health Secretary, Vini Mahajan today asked Excise and Taxation department to become an active partner in the fight against tobacco menace. The Punjab Health Department has asked the Excise and Taxation department to launch a coordinated drive against illegal hookah bars and those establishments flouting anti-tobacco Acts. In a communique to the Financial Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Mahajan asked him to issue instructions to field staff of excise and taxation department to ensure that the tobacco products manufactured and packaged must depict the notified pictorial health warning. She said that this way the illicit manufacture and trade of tobacco products could be checked to a large extent.
Lear MoreExcise commissioner asked to check illicit trade of tobacco
The Punjab Health Department today asked Excise and Taxation department to become active partner in its fight against menace of tobacco in the state and launch a coordinated drive against illegal hookah bars and those establishments flouting anti-tobacco acts. In a communiqué to the Financial Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Principal Secretary Health Ms. Vini Mahajan asked him to issue instructions to field staff of excise and taxation department to ensure that the tobacco products manufactured and packaged must depict the notified pictorial health warning. She said that this way the illicit manufacture and trade of tobacco products could be checked to a large extent.
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Three arrested for crossing SA border from Zimbabwe with tobacco valued at R3 million
Three men have been arrested for illegally crossing the border from Zimbabwe into South Africa with a truck full of tobacco valued at R3 million, the Johannesburg Metro Police Department said on Wednesday. JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said the Metro crime prevention unit, along with the South African Police Services’ Crime Intelligence division arrested the men after following them from the N1 in Midrand. “According to information received the truck was on its way to deliver the tobacco valued at about R3 million to a company in Gauteng.” The suspects were currently in custody at the Brackendowns police station and would be appearing in the Palmridge Magistrates Court soon on charges including tax evasion.
Lear MoreCustoms seizes fake Bioderma cleansing wate
Hong Kong customs agents have confiscated hundreds of bottles of fake Bioderma cleansing water and arrested 16 suspects. The stash of 1,100 bottles of the French beauty brand was worth HK$120,000 (US$15,400), Ming Pao Daily reports. The suspects are out on bail, pending further investigation. Officers found 12 cosmetics and retail shops selling the fake product in Tin Shui Wai, Sheung Shui, Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok, according Louise Ho, head of the intellectual property investigation unit of the Customs and Excise Department. The fakes came from mainland China and Europe, investigators said, but there were no traces of harmful chemicals in them. They were being sold for HK$228 per bottle, the same price as the genuine product, and there is almost no way to tell them apart, investigators said. Some online forums have been discussing how to distinguish between the two. An authentic Bioderma product contains “01″ in the center of a green triangle on the underside, along with the letters “PP”. Some fakes have no such markings. Customs officers warned customers to buy only from reputable shops and call the distributor of any suspected fake.
http://www.ejinsight.com/20150723-customs-seizes-fake-bioderma-cleansing-water/
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$1 Million for Counterfeit MAC Cosmetic Products Sold
Fake it ’till you make it — or maybe not, if you’re selling counterfeit cosmetics products. A 45-year-old woman from New Port Richey, Florida, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and owes $961,744.75 to MAC Cosmetics. The woman, Tina Oleszczuk, bought the fake products from a source in China and then sold them as real MAC goods at higher prices through her home-based company, Cozmetic Delights LLC. MAC Cosmetics released in a statement, “We would like to explain that our products are distributed for sale only at our authorized retail store accounts (including certain direct TV sales), free-standing stores, and e-commerce sites. Products sold to our authorized accounts are genuine M.A.C. If a retailer is not one of our accounts, we have no control over the merchandise that they sell. Further, we have no way of knowing how they obtained our products.
https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/woman-owes-mac-cosmetics-almost-1-million-for-124775867558.html
Lear MoreCounterfeit luxury products and how to recognize the genuineness
Consumers are brand conscious but are faking it. According to Anil Rajput, chairman of FICCI Cascade, an industry body created to generate awareness regarding counterfeit, contraband and smuggled products, there are people who buy fake brands knowingly because they desire to own these products but can’t afford them.Then, there is another section that is hoodwinked by the traders.Research shows that 5 popular brands that are replicated the most are:Louis Vuitton,Burberry, Gucci, Chanel & Michael Kors.ASSOCHAM recently reported the size of the fake luxury products market in India at Rs 2,500-3,000 crore. That is 5-6 per cent of the overall luxury products market in the country, which is worth Rs 49,000 crore. Further, fake products account for 7 per cent of the global luxury products industry worth Rs 19,69,920 crore. The market for fake goods is driven largely by web shopping portals that account for over 25 per cent of the overall market for fake luxury products in India, says the report.
Lear MoreCBCA to curb smuggling
THE business community is pinning its hopes on the Consignment Based Conformity Assessment (CBCA) programme saying that it would curb smuggling and influx of cheap goods into the country and pave way for local products to be competitive. CBCA is a government initiative to curb the continuous influx of sub-standard products in the country which is expected to begin on Monday next week. Local industries have been negatively affected by the smuggling and importation of cheap products into the country and have called for protectionist policies, like an increase in duty or even a total ban of imports. In an interview with NewsDay, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Davison Norupiri said the business community was in support of the CBCA initiative and hopefully would work well especially for the finished goods as this would be a way to safe guard the Zimbabwe industry. He said the industry was glad that government has exempted raw materials from the list of goods which are expected to be on the CBCA programme
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2015/07/21/industry-pins-hope-on-cbca-to-curb-smuggling/
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