NAFDAC nabs fake wine dealers in Abuja, confiscates N100m worth wine
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) closed down four shops and confiscated N100 million counterfeit wine.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) has shut down four wine shops worth N100 million in Wuse market, Abuja, for selling fake and unregistered products.
NAFDAC’s Deputy Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Shaba Mohammed, made the announcement on Friday, March 18, in Abuja.
Mohammed said he led a team of NAFDAC officials on enforcement to the market in continuation of a renewed global anti-counterfeiting fight against counterfeits, Tribune reports.
https://www.naij.com/1094850-nafdac-nabs-fake-wine-dealers-abuja-confiscates-n100m-worth-wine.html
Lear MoreMassive crackdown on fake jewellery and watches in Qatar
Consumer Protection Department (CPD) has launched a massive crackdown on jewellery shops selling fake watches and ornaments of major brands. Since the beginning of the year, CPD under the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, has been conducting inspections at jewellery shops selling international brands like Chanel, Dior, Messika and Bulgari, among others, which were available at throwaway prices in the local markets, according to market sources.
The copy products were very similar to the original ones and hence they were in pretty good demand among both citizens and expatriates. Usually the customers are fully aware that the products are counterfeits but buy them since they are affordable and looks exactly like the original branded ones, The Peninsula has learnt.
The practice had affected the authorised dealers of branded products, which perhaps has led the concerned authority at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, to launch the crackdown to curb the sale of fake products.
Lear MoreCombating Sale of Counterfeit and Falsified Medicines Online: A Losing Battle
The rapid growth of technology has transformed many brick-and-mortar businesses into online businesses, and medicines are now being sold over the internet. Influenced by the notions that online purchases are economical and do not require a prescription, the general public are keen to purchase medicine online through websites, social media and mobile apps. Online medicine purchase is presumed to be convenient and confidential, free from embarrassment of sharing personal and sensitive health information to a healthcare professional. Public in United States, Europe, Australia is generally aware that internet sales form part of the official medicines distribution channels, often a valid prescription is required for controlled medicine. However, unlicensed, substandard and falsified medicines with various dubious medical claims are advertised and sold illegally in many rogue online pharmacies (Jack, 2016). These include medications for weight loss, hair growth, and treatment of erectile dysfunction. Such medicines are termed as substandard, spurious, falsely labeled, falsified and counterfeit medical products by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Similarly, the European Commission defines such products as falsified medicines or fake medicines that pass themselves off as real, authorized medicines (European Commission, 2016). These medicines may contain substandard active ingredients, which are low quality and/or an incorrect amount, either too high or too low, and have not been properly evaluated by authorities in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy. It must be noted that falsified medicines are often confused with counterfeit medicines. According to European Commission, counterfeit medicines refers to medicines that do not comply with European Union law on intellectual and industrial property rights, for example, unregistered medicines sourced from parallel import (European Medicines Agency1). In this article, the illegal sales of both counterfeit and falsified medicines (CFMs) are discussed.
In 2012, the WHO estimated the CFMs industry to be worth USD 431 billion a year, but further estimates has not been reported in the recent years due to the fast growing, widespread practice of this industry, making it impractical to estimate on a global scale (Garrett,
2012). Authorities are finding it difficult to curb CFMs due to the lack of governance over the internet. Furthermore, fragmented cybercrime legislation leads to large substantive and procedural lacunae in law, rendering law enforcement efforts useless.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5432535/
Lear MoreRetailers caught in a bind as government cracks down on fake cigarette stamps
MANILA — A supermarket group wants authorities to issue clear guidelines, as its members look for ways to cooperate with the government in its ongoing crackdown against cigarette products carrying fake tax stamps.
Steven Cua, president of the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (PASA), said association members are becoming “innocent victims” in the government’s ongoing efforts against unscrupulous tobacco manufacturers.
On Wednesday, three retailers in Manila were caught possessing cigarettes without the requisite internal revenue stamps. They have been charged for non-payment of excise taxes by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
“Right now, the government has not issued any pronouncement on how to go about the alleged illicit Mighty products,” Cua said in an interview. “Until there’s an instruction to stop selling from the government, it’s going to be business as usual.”
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Be Careful: Gov’t Warned Tax On Alcohol And Tobacco Could Increase Smuggling
Last week the finance minister, Audley Shaw, announced an increase in the special consumption tax on pure alcohol from $1,120 per litre to $1,230 per litre.
He also said the tax on tobacco products was being increased from $14 per stick to $17 per stick.
In a newsletter reviewing the latest tax measures, Denning said the Government should exercise caution to ensure the tax revenue expected from the measures does not suffer from the law of diminishing returns.
He noted that raising these taxes increases the incentive to evade them and products such as alcohol and tobacco are particularly susceptible to smuggling.
Denning continued that greater smuggling places more competitive pressure on legitimate, law-abiding operators and this can in turn trigger unintended consequences.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170314/be-careful-govt-warned-tax-alcohol-and-tobacco-could-increase-smuggling
Sheriff: Calcasieu Parish deputy fired for smuggling synthetic marijuana, tobacco
3LAKE CHARLES — A Calacasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy has been fired after sheriff’s officials say he smuggled synthetic marijuana and tobacco into its jail.
Timothy W. Walls Jr., 26, of Lake Charles, had been bringing the substances into the jail since December 2016, according to a statement released Tuesday by the sheriff’s office.
An investigation found Walls did on at least five different occasions, according to the statement.
Detectives learned Walls had the contraband delivered to him at his apartment and would then bring it into the (Calcasieu Correctional Center) when he arrived for work,” the statement says. “Detectives also discovered one incident where Walls had the contraband delivered to him at the CCC while he was on duty.
http://kfdm.com/news/local/calcasieu-parish-deputy-fired-for-smuggling-synthetic-marijuana-tobacco
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Qatar motorists concern over counterfeit auto spare parts
Counterfeit vehicle spare parts, which are exact replicas of original products, in the local market is giving vehicle owners a hard time buying spare parts. Motorists are often being victims to dubious traders who sell fake parts to them under the guise that the spare parts are original, according to experts.
With the increasing number of vehicles on the roads, spare parts business has become more lucrative. The Peninsula noted that spare parts are available in different standards in local markets, which include, original and genuine — which are manufactured by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and the ‘Tejari’ – non-original products similar to that of OEM but under different brand names. Apart from this, spare parts of varying standards are imported in bulk from neighbouring countries.
“Buying the product from authorised dealers is the only way to ensure genuineness. It is difficult for a consumer to distinguish between original and fake products. Even authorised dealers often find it hard to do so because counterfeiters have become smarter these days,” an official at the parts section of a leading automobile dealers told The Peninsula.
https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/11/03/2017/Qatar-motorists-concern-over-counterfeit-auto-spare-parts
VN sizes up massive smuggling caseload
Vietnamese authorities discovered and solved hundreds of thousands cases of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeiting in 2016, the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Commodities reported at an online conference on Thursday.
They handled 211,559 cases of violations last year, up 2.5 per cent from 2015, said the committee-also known as the 389 Committee.
Total administrative fines, which were submitted to the State budget, reached over VN�18 trillion (US$800 million), up nearly 33.6 per cent over 2015.
Relevant authorities prosecuted 1,560 cases and 1,863 people involved.
Hà Ná»�i alone busted more than 23,000 cases, with total administrative fines reaching VNÄ�9.6 billion ($426,000). In the first two months of this year, the municipal authorities inspected and discovered more than 4,900 cases of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit commodities.
http://vietnamnews.vn/society/372591/vn-sizes-up-massive-smuggling-caseload.html#AwhQMB0dcdtutIFY.97
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KLIA customs cripple cigarette, chewing tobacco smuggling bid
SEPANG: The Royal Malaysian Customs at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Klia) crippled an attempt to smuggle in 2.56 million sticks of cigarette and 7,560 kg of chewing tobacco on Sunday.
The consignment was valued at RM400,000 with unpaid taxes amounting to RM2.2 million.
Klia Customs director Datuk Hamzah Sundang said three lorries and three local men aged between 26 and 34 years were intercepted at the cargo inspection section.
“The three lorries were found to be loaded with cigarettes and chewing tobacco without any declaration document to allow them to pass through the Klia customs cargo gate,” he told a media conference here today.
He said the three men had been remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation under Section 135(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967.
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2189687
Lear MoreNAFDAC smashes forgery, counterfeiting syndicates
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has blown the lid off activities of unscrupulous individuals engaged in the forgery of the Agency’s documents, production of counterfeit alcoholic beverages, water for injection and sales of suspected counterfeit Peak Milk.
Speaking while parading the suspects at the Agency’s head office in Lagos, NAFDAC’s Acting Director General, Mrs Yetunde Oni, noted that the Agency received three different complaints from three countries about alleged impersonation and scams by some Nigerians who pose as staff of the Agency to process registration documents for intending importers of regulated products.
Oni explained that after diligent investigation it was discovered that the three cases were hatched and executed by a group of an international gang of criminals headed by one Mr. Eze Okoronkwo, a Nigerian who resides in Aba, Abia state.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/nafdac-smashes-forgery-counterfeiting-syndicates-2/