BASF Introduces New Anti-fake Technology to Tackle Counterfeit Crop Protection Products in China
In China the company is introducing an innovative product label that features an identification system developed by BASF and a local partner in exclusive collaboration. This technology will ensure that farmers in China can buy genuine BASF crop protection products.
“Our new technology quickly proves the authenticity of BASF products and points out with clarity products that are counterfeited. We are committed to providing farmers with effective, innovative products that allow them to work in a safe environment and produce safe food, feed and fiber,” said Tracy Wu, Director Business Management Greater China, BASF Crop Protection.
The new technology, which has been developed by experts from BASF and a local labeling company in China, incorporates a special water mark into the product label that is invisible indoors but clearly visible in sunlight. In addition, the BASF know-how Verbund has created a special BASF color pigment to provide an additional unique characteristic that makes it even easier for farmers and retailers to identify genuine BASF products.
http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/152129/
Lear MoreChina detains gangs accused of smuggling 440,000 tonnes of oil
Chinese customs have detained members of two gangs involved in smuggling in 440,000 tonnes of fuel using retooled fishing boats or vessels done up to look like boats that carry out cleaning work on oil tankers, authorities said on Monday.
Fuel smuggling has picked up since late last year after China raised consumption taxes sharply on a variety of oil products from diesel to fuel oil, widening the margins between domestic oil prices and supplies that evade the levies, traders have said.
The arrests were made earlier this month when authorities detained more than 250 suspects from two gangs who had attempted to smuggle in fuel worth approximately 2.2 billion yuan ($355 million) in seven coastal provinces, according to a statement on the Chinese Customs Administration website (www.customs.gov.cn).
http://news.yahoo.com/china-detains-gangs-accused-smuggling-440-000-tonnes-102610250.html
Lear MoreCBP Special Operation Interrupts Smuggling Network of Illicit Agriculture Goods
Cincinnati, Ohio – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists (CBPAS) at the Port of Cincinnati recently conducted a special operation in a continued effort to interrupt an extensive network of purposely mislabeled and high-risk agriculture products coming from Hong Kong, China, India, and Saudi Arabia.This special operation took place over an eight-day period highlighting the increasing trend of customers using e-commerce to purchase illegal agriculture products from Asia.
“CBP Agriculture Specialists are the first line of defense to protect U.S. agriculture, forest, and livestock industries from exotic and destructive plant pests and animal diseases,” said Chief Supervisory CBP Officer Angela Dilland.
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Focus on anti-smuggling activities along coast
The newly formed Vijayawada Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate is gearing up for anti-smuggling activities along the 975 km-long coast with Customs Preventive Divisions (CPDs) at Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Ongole as the bases. The CPDs will be assisted by Shore Guard Custom Preventive Units located at Srikakulam, Machilipatnam, Narsapur, Nellore and Sullurpet.
Vijayawada Commissionerate, which has jurisdiction over the entire State excluding Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports, sought the cooperation of State government and Director of Ports who controls all intermediate and minor ports, for carrying out the anti-smuggling work which, according to Commissioner S. Khader Rahman, is intense in Tamil Nadu but almost neglected in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
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One in three drugs fake in Arab world
A GCC health official has called for strict penalties on countries and companies found engaged in exporting or importing adulterated and counterfeit drugs in order to curb the spread of such drugs in Arab countries.
Director General of the Executive Office of the Council of Ministers of Health of the Gulf Cooperation Council Tewfiq Ahmed Khoja said 35 percent of medicines circulated in some Arab countries are fake — in other words, one in every three drugs is counterfeit.
Khoja, who was addressing the 2nd Arab conference on foods and drugs in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, attributed the rising rate of adulterated drugs to poor monitoring by regulatory bodies which are supposed to protect the market from such drugs.
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/734171
Lear MoreSolon seeks probe on fake antibiotics
A lawmaker proposed an investigation on the proliferation of a counterfeit antibiotic drug that may cause harm to people’s health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a warning about the fake Klarid Clarithromycin being sold in the market. In its advisory, FDA confirmed that one of the variants of the antibiotic Clarithromycin 250 mg/5 mL is a counterfeit drug after pharmaceutical firm Abbott Laboratories studied it and compared it with other registered drugs.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo filed House Resolution 1990, to direct the Committees on Dangerous Drugs and Health to conduct an inquiry into the recent warning.
Van driver admits to delivering thousands of illegal cigarettes to Blaydon buyers
A van driver has admitted selling thousands of smuggled cigarettes to Tyneside buyers after being stopped leaving the region. A carrier bag stuffed with £23,385 of cash was found in David Walker’s Ford Transit when he was pulled over at the A1 Washington Services on the morning of February 20 last year. HMRC officers had followed the 48-year-old, and another man, after watching them crack deals in trading estates and a cafe in Blaydon, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
In total, 240,000 cigarettes had been sold in Tyneside minus the legal duty required, meaning £53,895 never found its way to the Treasury.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/van-driver-admits-delivering-thousands-9069586
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Student smuggled 33,800 cigarettes from Poland through Scots airports
A student caught smuggling 33,800 cigarettes into Scotland from Poland claimed they were for her and her partner. Iwona Monica Kowal, a student from Dundee, was caught on three separate occasions by UK Border Agency staff after flying from Poland into Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports.
She was caught with a total of 33,800 cigarettes stuffed into her baggage, Paisley Sheriff Court heard. The Excise Duty on the haul would have been £9241.
Depute fiscal Frank Clarke said that after being intercepted carrying 15,800 contraband cigarettes Kowal was subsequently quizzed by officers of HM Revenue & Customs as she flew into Glasgow Airport on April 8, 2013.
Lear MoreHong Kong Customs to work with Guangdong counterparts to crack down on cigarette smuggling
Hong Kong Customs will seek help from their mainland counterparts to investigate a cross-border syndicate after making their biggest seizure of smuggled cigarettes this year. The HK$4.9 million haul of untaxed cigarettes was discovered hidden in two shipping containers which arrived from Guangdong by sea on Thursday.
“The containers were declared to have carried electronic parts and LED lights but its shipper is not involved in such business. This aroused our officers’ suspicions,” Superintendent Cecilia Yeung Kai-fei, deputy head of the Customs’ revenue and general investigation bureau, said.
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Heavy smoker’ is caught smuggling 33,000 cigarettes
A “heavy smoker” caught smuggling 33,000 cigarettes into Scotland has been ordered to pay more than £9,000 in duties.
Iwona Monica Kowal was caught with contraband cigarettes hidden in her baggage on three separate occasions at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in 2013.
The 44-year-old, from Dundee, admitted trying to avoid paying excise duty.
A civil order was made for recovery of the £9,240, and a sheriff sentenced Kowal to 200 hours of unpaid work.
The English student was first caught with 15,800 contraband cigarettes at Glasgow Airport on 8 April, 2013, as she flew back from Poland.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-32354001
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