More than 13,000 illegal cigarettes seized in raids on Norwich shops
A total of 13,500 illegal cigarettes and 250g of illegal hand-rolling tobacco were confiscated from four of six stores which were swooped on.
The raids, part of a crackdown on suppliers of illegal tobacco, were led by trading standards officers who were accompanied by members of Norfolk Constabulary’s licensing, drug and alcohol team, Norwich City Council officers and Stuart Phillips of B.W.Y Canine Ltd with tobacco detection dogs Scamp and Yoyo.
The shops were all targeted as a result of intelligence received from members of the public, businesses and Norfolk Constabulary.
Lear MoreLife has come to standstill in India’s counterfeit capital
KOLKATA: While people in the rest of the country are queuing up outside banks for cash, there is an eerie calm in Kaliachak in Madla district. Following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, life has virtually come to standstill in India’s counterfeit capital.
Figures reveal how large is the fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) business in the area. This year, district police seized Rs 1.14 crore in fake currency. In the last two years, 180 cases of FICN have been lodged at the local police station and 240 people, mainly couriers, arrested.
Apart from West Bengal Police, national agencies too are investigating the FICN cases. The Border Security Force has seized FICN of Rs 1.35 crore in last 10 months while Rs 2.5 crore in FICN was seized in 2015.
Apart from the CBI and the NIA, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating 44 cases of FICN in which money was laundered to foreign countries to fund terror activities in India.
Interpipe launches service to defend against counterfeiting
Ukraine-based Interpipe has stepped up its offensive against counterfeiting, with the launch of an online service that can verify the authenticity of its products onsite.
The steel pipe producer says that its pipe labels are now imprinted with a QR code, which contains encrypted details that are unique to the customer’s specific order. If customers want to verify the authenticity of products, they just have to use their smartphones to scan the QR codes, which are linked to Interpipe’s shipped orders database.
If products are found to be genuine, the consignee will be redirected to a webpage, which will share details about the volume of products, the inspection certificate, date of shipment and heat number. In cases where products may be counterfeit, the customer will be notified and provided with the contact details for the regional sales office to verify the supply.
Andrey Burtsev, Commercial Director for Middle East, Africa and Asia markets, Interpipe said, “The Steel Alliance Against Counterfeiting (SAAC) employs a multifold approach against counterfeiters. As a key member of the alliance, Interpipe implements additional identification features on products to secure their origin. QR-codes on these pipe bundles will be a very effective first step to mitigate counterfeiting. This easy-to-use and technically advanced tool allows our customers to verify the origin of the bundle in just one click.”
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Liberia: ‘Counterfeit Medicines Cause More Deaths’.
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Chairperson of the Authority of Head of States and Government of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), has said that counterfeit drugs continue to pose a serious risk to public health in the sub-region.
The President said the proliferation of these sub-standard medicines, which are falsely labeled, is a major cause of mortality and the loss of public confidence in medicines and in health structures.
She said despite the close cooperation among drug companies, governments and international organizations on trade, health, customs and excise on counterfeiting, the prevalence of counterfeit drugs appears to be rising.
The President made the statement on Monday, April 10, at a resort in Monrovia during the official opening of the meeting of the Joint Committee on Health and Social Welfare, Trade, Customs, and the free movement of the ECOWAS Parliament.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201704110669.html
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About 18,000 convicted for IP piracy, counterfeiting in China.
BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) — Around 18,000 people were convicted on charges of intellectual property (IP) piracy and producing counterfeit products last year, said Vice Premier Wang Yang Tuesday.
Police investigated more than 200,000 cases involving IP piracy and counterfeiting last year and seized 22,000 suspects, said Wang at a national meeting on IP piracy and counterfeit control.
Authorities closed more than 200,000 accounts that were facilitating IP piracy and counterfeiting on the Internet, and handled about 2,000 websites to guarantee the market’s proper operation, he said.
Laying out the essential tasks for this year, Wang said the government planned to tighten online supervision and investigate the source of production.
A special operation to prevent the trade of counterfeit products will be launched, in which cross-border trade along the Belt and Road will be under tight scrutiny, he said.
Supervision of rural markets will be enhanced, and computer software will be another priority, said Wang.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/11/c_136200640.htm
Lear MoreASPA seeks mandatory authentication, anti-counterfeiting laws
With counterfeiting activities growing at the rate of 44 per cent, authentication solution providers on Tuesday sought government intervention to make authentication “mandatory” and enact “specific anti-counterfeiting laws” in the country.
“Counterfeiting is increasing 3 per cent per annum globally. In India, the problem is more severe, it is growing with an alarming rate of almost 44 per cent per year,” Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) General Secretary Arun Agarwal said here.
“No specific anti-counterfeiting laws are in place in the country and using of authentication solution has not been made mandatory,” said International Hologram Manufacturers Association’s Chairman Manoj Kochar.
The officials of the associations said several countries all over the world introduced laws to tackle the menace of counterfeiting. For example, Canada passed Combating Counterfeit Products Act.
“The Indian government also ought to do something similar,” Agarwal told reporters here at the association’s ‘Make Sure India’ campaign.
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Crackdown on counterfeiting.
From fake versions of the drugs Viagra and Xanax to phony designer watches and handbags, counterfeiting is rising fast and is increasingly becoming a booming underground economy. And while counterfeiters reap significant profits, millions of consumers are at risk from unsafe and ineffective products.
Who hasn’t been tempted to purchase a fake designer handbag or watchâ��? They are a fraction of the cost of authentic designer products, ranging from the hundreds to the ten-thousands depending on the designer, the style and the materials used. But there are many reasons not to buy knock-offs, first and foremost because fakes harm people and hurt the economy.
Despite being against the law, counterfeiting is big business. Counterfeit products exist in virtually every area – food, drinks, clothes, shoes, pharmaceuticals, electronics, auto parts, toys, currency, tickets for transport systems and concerts, alcohol, cigarettes, toiletries, building materials and much, much more.
https://www.iso.org/news/2014/01/Ref1809.html
Lear MoreThe Government doesn’t understand that illicit trade is organised crime
You would think the Government would be fully aware of the scope of the problem of illicit trade in tobacco in the UK. The Treasury certainly is – it loses £2.4bn in unpaid taxes to the crime every year.
So it amazes us that the Government continues to ignore the matter. My conversation with Scottish National Party MP Martyn Day last week revealed that while non-first world economies Brazil and Kenya have already taken significant action on reducing illegal tobacco by introducing track and trace systems, the UK continues to drag its feet on the issue.
He told me how, when he asked for a question in Parliament on illicit tobacco, it was put under a discussion on health. The Government simply doesn’t understand that illicit trading is organised crime.
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Combating illicit trade a key pillar of Belgium’s anti-radicalisation strategy says deputy prime minister Jan Jambon.
A Brussels conference has been told that the lucrative trade in illicit goods is helping to finance terrorist organisations such as Islamic State.
Speaking on Tuesday at a conference on counterfeit trade, Belgium’s deputy prime minister Jan Jambon said the “shadow economy” had helped finance those behind the terrorist atrocity in Brussels nearly 12 months ago.
The event was also told that the international community is “losing the battle” against the trade in illicit goods and that European governments “do not get” the scale and nature of the problem.
In a keynote speech, Jambon said, “An enormous illegal economy has been created worldwide, stimulating a tangle of obscure flows of money, allowing terrorists and their direct accomplices to organise themselves in a kind of parallel universe.”
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Health Ministry circulates cabinet note to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco.
The Health Ministry has circulated a draft cabinet note for approval to the signing of a protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products. Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said that based on the suggestion of department of revenue, an inter-ministerial group to recommend measures to promote ratification of the protocol by India was set up which is yet to submit its report.
“The Health Ministry had circulated a draft cabinet note for approval of signing of the protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products developed under Article 15 of World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention of Tobacco Control.
“However, based on the suggestion of the department of revenue, an IMG consisting of officers from department of revenue, finance and health was set up to look into the domestic legislations, do a gap analysis and recommend measures to promote ratification of the protocol by India. The IMG has not yet submitted its report,” she said.
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