30% FMCG items fake, counterfeit auto parts cause of 20% accidents: FICCI
FICCI CASCADE, the industry body working on addressing unlawful trade activities in India, says there’s an urgent need to increase awareness in consumer as well as lawmakers and enforcement agencies.
Around 20 per cent of accidents on Indian roads are caused by counterfeit automobile parts, while 30 per cent of FMCG items sold are fake, but 80 per cent of consumers still believe that they are using genuine products, according to FICCI CASCADE.
Stating that illicit products are adversely affecting Indian consumers, the industry body which is working on addressing the issue of unlawful trade activities in India, said there’s an urgent need to increase not just awareness in consumer but also among lawmakers and enforcement agencies.
FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) further said counterfeiting and illicit trade has also led to huge revenue loss to the exchequer.
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Counterfeiting of products now big industry in India: Bengal minister
Counterfeiting of products have become a “big industry” in India that is impacting the consumers as well as the revenue earned by the governments, a senior West Bengal minister said here on Tuesday, urging the police and state agencies to be more vigilant to curb such practices.
“Counterfeiting has become a very big industry. Products like tea and cigarette of all the big brands are being counterfeited. I do not know whether the government of India is focussing on this matter because it is impacting the revenue, particularly in the segment of indirect taxes.
“Also the consumers are unknowingly using bad quality products while paying for big brands,” state Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pande said at a Conference on Combating Counterfeiting and Smuggling, organised by Ficci CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) here.
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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Incidents of cigarettes, tobacco smuggling jump 136% in 2 yrs: FICCI
Incidents of cigarettes and tobacco products smuggling in India increased by 136 per cent in 2016-17 from 2014-15, according to a report by FICCI CASCADE.
The number of incidents of smuggling of cigarettes and tobacco products increased to to 3,108 cases in 2016-17 from 1,312 cases in 2014-15, it added.
FICCI CASCADE, an industry body working on addressing the issue of illicit trade activities in India, also said that while there is an increase in vigilance by enforcement agencies, seizures were only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and threatening operation in illegal trade in the country.
Maximum revenue loss to the exchequer came from illicit trade of tobacco products, mobile phones, alcoholic beverages, it said. The report said the total loss to the government on account of illicit trade in just seven manufacturing sectors was Rs 392.39 billion in 2014.
Lear More‘India suffering significant economic consequences due to smuggling’.
India is suffering significant economic, health and safety consequences as a result of widespread smuggling and counterfeiting in the country, said a senior government official on Tuesday.
“Illicit trade is a global problem of enormous scale, impacting human lives and virtually every industry sector around the world — and India is no exception. It is suffering significant economic and health and safety consequences as a result of widespread smuggling and counterfeiting in the country,” said Reena Arya, Additional Director General of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Tax and Narcotics (NACIN).
Arya was speaking at a capacity building programme organised by NACIN and FICCI’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities (CASCADE).
As per FICCI’s CASCADE report, the total loss to thegovernment on account of illicit markets in just seven manufacturing sectors is Rs 39,239 crore in 2014.
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Hope on GST to curb cigarette smuggling: Tobacco Institute of India
TII says India has become fastest growing and fourth largest illegal cigarette market in the world.
The coming national goods and services tax (GST) will, says the cigarette industry, help curb smuggling of items in the segment.
Cigarettes, both duty paid and tax paid, comprise 15 per cent of the entire tobacco market in India, which was estimated at Rs 144,000 crore in 2015.
The Tobacco Institute of India (TII), representing 98 per cent of duty-paying cigarette makers, says the country has become the fastest growing and fourth largest illegal cigarette market in the world, on account of excessive taxation.
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