Retailers 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/
Curbing the menace of imported fake products
Fake and substandard products keep streaming into the country despite the army of agencies at the ports. Such products include plastic rice from China, Indian gari, jollof rice, varieties of Nigerian local soups and substandard tyres from China. The substandard tyres estimated at over N5billion were found in a warehouse in Lagos. They have since been seized by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
Fake and substandard products keep streaming into the country despite the army of agencies at the ports. Such products include plastic rice from China, Indian gari, jollof rice, varieties of Nigerian local soups and substandard tyres from China. The substandard tyres estimated at over N5billion were found in a warehouse in Lagos. They have since been seized by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
Following the outrage in the case of the Indian gari, the National Agency for Food Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) raided the shop located on Cameron Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The public wondered how it was allowed to enter the country. But NAFDAC came out strongly, stating that the product does not have their number.
http://thenationonlineng.net/curbing-menace-imported-fake-products/
Lear MoreComprehensive Study of a Handheld Raman Spectrometer for the Analysis of Counterfeits of Solid-Dosage Form Medicines
The fight against medicine counterfeiting is a current focus of the pharmaceutical world. Reliable analytical tools are needed to pursue the counterfeiters. Handheld devices present the advantage of providing quick results, with analyses possibly performed on the field. A large number of solid-dosage form medicines have been analyzed with a handheld Raman spectrometer. 33 out of 39 product families could be successfully analysed. The methods were validated with 100% of correct identification. Each product was additionally tested by the methods of the other products and successfully rejected. A second validation was performed using counterfeits, placebos, and generics. All the counterfeits were rejected, with values close to zero. Some generics presented a similar formulation to the brand products and were then identified as such. One placebo was positively identified, showing that low dosage products are difficult to analyze with Raman. Robustness tests were carried out, showing, for instance, that the operator has no influence on the results and that the analyses might be performed through transparent packaging. The discovery mode was also investigated, which proposes the chemical composition of the samples. The results demonstrated that the Raman handheld device is a reliable tool for the field analysis of counterfeits.
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jspec/2017/3154035/
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Cig smuggling needs snuffing out
Custom officers in QuảngTrị central province examine smuggled goods. During the first half of this year, the province’s Board of Customs uncovered some 350 cases of smuggling with a total value of VND455 billion (US$20.5 million). — VNA/VNS Photo TrầnTĩnh
HCM CITY —The scale of tobacco smuggling has fallen but the situation remains complicated, especially in ‘smuggling hubs’ like the Southern cities and provinces of HCM City, Long An, TâyNinh, An Giang, and the northern provinces of HảiPhòng, QuảngNinh, TháiBình, a conference on combating smuggling has heard.Speaking at the conference held in HCM City on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister TrươngHòaBình asked local authorities of such provinces to intensify and mobilise all forces to crack down on cigarette smuggling.
http://vietnamnews.vn/society/344751/cig-smuggling-needs-snuffing-out.html#urLDCSqZY5bAmtvV.97