Illegal tobacco trade in city on Customs radar
A day after busting a major cigarette smuggling racket at One-Town here, the Customs Department is looking for clues to identify other places where the illegal trade is thriving. The focus is now on Guntur city, which is the hub of tobacco business in the State, and some areas in Vijayawada where the business has strong roots.
According to sources, some pockets in Vijayawada have become safe havens for illegal manufacture of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The Customs Department is gathering intelligence inputs on these hideouts. The department, however, is not in a hurry to conduct further raids fearing that suspects could escape along with the products once they sense the possibility of raids.
Consumer Reports uncovers counterfeit tires case
Consumer Reports, the nation’s largest independent consumer publication, annually buys tires at random to test and rate for its readers.
But last year, strictly at random, Consumer Reports uncovered a flagrant case of tire counterfeiting, the publication’s tire program manager told attendees of the 31st annual Clemson University Global Tire Industry Conference. “We didn’t say, “Let’s go out and find some counterfeit tires,’ “ Eugene Peterson said in his presentation at the conference, held April 15-17 at Hilton Head, S.C. “We said, “Let’s test some tires,’ and one of those tires just happened to be counterfeit.”
Over 2,500 cartons of smuggled cigarettes seized
In a major haul of non-duty paid goods by the Customs Department in recent times, foreign cigarettes worth about Rs 25 lakh were seized along with Indian-made ones valued at nearly Rs 16 lakh from a shop-cum-warehouse in One-Town here on Saturday.
Two persons, who claimed to be wholesale traders, have been detained for allegedly violating the provisions of Customs Act, 1962. Besides, the cigarette packs did not have statutory pictorial warnings on them, which amounted to violation of the Tobacco Products Act, 2008.
According to official sources, cigarette imports are allowed into the country with prior permission and on payment of customs duty but in the present case the procedures were not complied.
Sheriff’s deputy accused of smuggling drugs into prison
An Orleans Parish Sheriff’s deputy has been arrested and fired on suspicion of smuggling contraband to inmates inside the parish prison.
27-year-old Rubin Robertson was arrested Thursday and charged with six counts of introducing contraband into a correctional facility. Robertson had been a deputy with the agency for 10 months.
According to his arrest affidavit, investigators who searched Robertson’s vehicle Wednesday found 1 gram of marijuana, 4 dosage units of Hydrocodone, and tobacco “repackaged in a manner which allow concealment into a correctional facility.”
Chinese banks a haven for web counterfeits
Kim Sbarcea knew exactly what she wanted. She typed “Tiffany Elsa Peretti mesh earrings” into Google and scrolled through impeccable photos of the delicate US$450 diamond-shaped earrings until she chanced upon a pair for — deal of deals! — $32. The website, Tiffany-OutletSale.com, looked legit and Ms Sbarcea assumed Tiffany & Co would not let an unauthorised site use its name. Besides, she could pay by credit card.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/555623/chinese-banks-a-haven-for-web-counterfeits
Lear MoreNigeria: SON reduces substandard products to 45% in three years
The Standard Organisation on Nigeria said it was able to reduce the level of substandard products in the country from a staggering 85 per cent to 45 per cent between March 2011 and November 2014.
Dr. Joseph Odumodu, Director General SON, said on Thursday at the 2nd Lagos NIPR Stakeholders Conference with the theme, ‘The Nigerian Consumer Right and Obligations’ held at the University of Lagos, that to tackle the menace of substandard products importation, production, storage and distribution demanded the merging of the Enforcement, Ports and Border Operation Units into a full directorate now called ‘Inspectorate and Compliance Directorate (ICD).
http://worldstagegroup.com/index.php?active=news&newscid=22196&catid=28
Lear MoreMichael LaFaive and Todd Nesbit: R.I. set to lose tobacco revenue
The Rhode Island General Assembly is working toward a budget vote that may — among other things — raise excise taxes on cigarettes by 25 cents per pack. The increase will prove counterproductive from both a revenue and public health standpoint.
We first estimated a statistical model in 2008 to measure the degree to which cigarettes are smuggled. It covers most American states and has since been updated with tax and population changes through 2013. Our model tells us that through 2013 Rhode Island’s total smuggling rate is almost 32 percent of the total cigarette market.
http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150508/OPINION/150509392/2011
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Lessons From China’s Counterfeit Crackdown
Beijing resident Wang Wenwen says she frequently trawled China’s online marketplaces for brand-name bargains, but grew tired of receiving obviously fake merchandise. The breaking point was a blue, floral-patterned dress she got for $32 that was advertised as a product of popular Chinese brand Five Plus. Not only wasn’t it a Five Plus dress, she says—no label to be found—it was made with “bad materials, unlike those claimed on the site.” Now Wang makes sure she can see and touch her clothes before she buys them.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-07/lessons-from-china-s-counterfeit-crackdown
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UK cyber cops cuff three in counterfeit Cisco computer kit swoop
THE UK Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) has arrested a three-man computer counterfeiting group alleged to have made merry with Cisco intellectual property and hardware.
PIPCU reckons that the three fakers are responsible for the import, export and selling of the hooky networking gear using a relatively sophisticated sales network.
AP Exclusive: Chinese banks a haven for web counterfeits
Kim Sbarcea knew exactly what she wanted. She typed “Tiffany Elsa Peretti mesh earrings” into Google and scrolled through impeccable photos of the delicate $450 diamond-shaped earrings until she chanced upon a pair for — deal of deals! — $32.
The website, tiffany-outletsale.com, looked legit and Sbarcea assumed Tiffany & Co. would not let an unauthorized site use its name. Besides, she could pay by credit card.