‘Telangana must spruce up to combat counterfeiting’
HYDERABAD: To combat smuggling and counterfeiting activities that is draining India’s economy, the State machinery needs to be spruced up to make law enforcement effective. This was the take away from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) CASCADE seminar on Combating counterfeiting and smuggling, held on Tuesday in Hyderabad.
“Consumers need to be educated about counterfeit goods as these days there is a narrow gap in the quality difference in packaging between the original and counterfeit goods making it difficult to differentiate,” said State finance minister Etela Rajender at his inaugural address.
The speakers pointed out that buying counterfeit and smuggled goods has led to loss of jobs in the country and as these sectors operate outside the taxable economy.
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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
Lear More‘Counterfeit goods account for 5 % of global trade’
Counterfeit/smuggled goods are visibly impacting the economy by generating black money, said PC Jha, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE (Committee against smuggling and counterfeiting activities destroying the economy).
The markets are getting inundated with cheap quality goods available at a lower price, thus decimating sales of genuine manufacturers. This grey market adversely impacts the economy, he said at a seminar organised by it in Hyderabad today. Smuggling has become a low-risk, high reward field, Jha said. The penal code is not strong enough to deal with smuggling and the court takes too much time in prosecuting, he added.
Jha called for public awareness campaigns to combat the menace. “For every product you buy, ask for a bill. It solves 80 per cent of the problem,” he said.
“The most dangerous form of counterfeiting occurs in pharmaceutical products, said Gowra Srinivas, President, Ftapcci. Hospital patients often end up getting counterfeit medicines that are hazardous to health, he added.
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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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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.
Lear MoreFake products: 80% of consumers believe they use genuine ones, say FICCI
NEW DELHI: 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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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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ICE seizes 181,000 counterfeit items worth nearly $43 million in Laredo, Texas
LAREDO, Texas — Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) on Tuesday completed counting the counterfeit items seized in Laredo in June which totaled more than 181,000 items. HSI estimates the street value of the seized items at more than $42.9 million, which is HSI’s largest counterfeit seizure in Laredo.
In mid-June 2018, HSI special agents conducted surveillance over a three-day period and observed boxes containing suspected counterfeit merchandise being moved. During the enforcement action, HSI discovered that all shipping labels on all the boxes depicted fictitious delivery addresses in Laredo. HSI confirmed the boxes contained counterfeit merchandise and detained the boxes.
HSI eventually seized 795 boxes containing 181,615 pieces of trademark-infringed merchandise, which included many counterfeited brands, such as the following names: Adidas, Apple, Calvin Klein, Casio, Chanel, Coach, Diesel, Fendi, Gucci, Hugo Boss, LG, Luis Vuitton, Mark Kors, Nike, Rolex, Samsung, Sony, Under Armor, Yves St. Laurent; and DC and Marvel Comics.
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Counterfeiting likely to cause loss of over 5 million jobs globally by 2022: FICCI
Kolkata: A recent FICCI report has revealed that the total employment loss globally due to counterfeiting activities is expected to rise to 4.2 to 5.4 million jobs in 2022. It was 2 to 2.6 million jobs in 2013 and in 2022, the approximate increase would be 110 percent.
Sadhan Pande, the state Consumer Affairs minister, said: “Counterfeiting is a big issue in India which is affecting our revenues, particularly the indirect taxes.” In the state of West Bengal, the minister cited examples of counterfeit products such as tea, cream etc which were finding its way to the retail market owing to their low prices. Further, he added that illicit trade in cigarettes is also a big menace in the state, as they are being smuggled from neighbouring countries and are readily available across the markets in Bengal.”
Mayank Jalan, chairman, FICCI – West Bengal State Council and CMD, Keventer Agro Ltd, said: “Counterfeiting and smuggling adversely impact industries, consumers, government and economies as a whole. It is imperative to understand the need for safeguarding the rights of legitimate industry in developing competitiveness in various sectors of the economy.”
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