Counterfeit airbags a ‘clear danger to the public’
Police have arrested a man believed to be linked with the online sale of almost 700 counterfeit vehicle airbags. Detectives believe as many as 680 people made purchases from an individual selling counterfeit and potentially dangerous airbags and airbag covers on eBay.
Nearly 150 people or businesses purchased suspected counterfeit Honda CRV and Accord safety devices. Officers from the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) are currently establishing if the remaining products are imitations of other manufacturer car parts.
On February 18, PIPCU, with assistance from Dorset Police, arrested a 34-year-old man in Blandford Forum, North Dorset, on suspicion of counterfeiting and money laundering offences. So far officers have seized approximately 100 suspected counterfeit airbags, as well as a large quantity of airbag components, financial documents and computers. The man has since been released on bail pending further inquiries.
PMI: We have common ground with EU on tobacco smuggling
In recent months, there has been a great deal of talk in Brussels about the measures used to tackle the illegal trade in tobacco products, notably the 12-year anti-illicit trade agreement between the European Commission, member states and Philip Morris International (PMI), which ends later this year.
The question of whether or not the agreement is renewed has become the defining feature of this debate. Portraying this as an issue dividing interested parties into opposing camps may make for good headlines, but in reality, there is more common ground about what is needed to fight the illicit trade than is often assumed.
https://euobserver.com/opinion/132325
Lear MoreContraband Tobacco: Imprisonment And Fines For Offenders 8
Revenu Quebec announced Thursday that eight people convicted of tobacco smuggling offenses were sentenced to pay fines totaling more than $ 1,073,000 within 24 months.One of them, Charles Patenaude, Saint-Cesaire, was also sentenced to serve a prison sentence of one month concurrently with another sentence of two months, having been in possession of some 35,000 illegal cigarettes.
Convicts are in particular been criticized for having sold, delivered or was in possession of tobacco intended for retail sale in Quebec and whose package was not identified in accordance with the Act. Moreover, they were not registered with Revenu Quebec and were holders of any of the permits required by law to conduct commercial activities related to tobacco products.
Fighting the Counterfeiting Mafia
At a foundry in Linqing, in the middle of Shandong Province in eastern China, six trucks stand in a courtyard, each filled with counterfeit roller bearings in plastic bags. One after another, the bags are tossed into a burning hot smelter.
The names of well-known German brand names INA and FAG, both owned by the German company Schaeffler are visible on the roller bearings. In the last few months, Chinese authorities raided more than 300,000 counterfeit parts made to resemble German manufacturer Schaeffler’s two brands, and are destroying them, in a public display of incineration. Chinese television crews stand by to film it all.
Five-state blitz on illegal cigs
The Customs Department raided outlets in five states under Ops Outlet 3.0 to crack down on the illegal cigarette trade. The raids were conducted simultaneously on Monday in Johor, Selangor, Federal Territory, Penang and Perak. Sixteen outlets were found to be in possession of illicit cigarettes, including trading the items illegally.
If proven guilty, the business owners can be charged under the Customs Act 1967 which carries stiff penalties including imprisonment.
In Johor, two foreigners believed to be employees were arrested at the business outlets.
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Maple Producers Blast Food Products Containing ‘Fake’ Maple
The word “maple” is often used to sell food products that don’t actually contain any maple, the industry charged. Maple syrup producers from all over the country are asking the Food and Drug Administration for strict enforcement of food product labeling, after growing concern from the maple industry that too many big food manufacturers may be deceptively using the word “maple” on their containers.
Those products, some of which were displayed at a Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association press conference Tuesday, run the gamut from oatmeal to cookies to ice cream. Despite using the word “maple” in their product names, they often do not contain any actual maple syrup in their ingredient lists, the association charged. They usually contain no natural maple sugar, either, the group said, just hard-to-pronounce chemical flavoring and coloring.
Illegal cigs and tobacco seized by West Yorkshire Trading Standards in crackdown
Illegal cigarettes and tobacco worth thousands of pounds have been seized by West Yorkshire Trading Standards as part of a nationwide crackdown. Government officials in the region have seized more than 37,000 cigarettes and 22kg of illegal tobacco during a large-scale operation to fight illegal tobacco selling.
The products were discovered during Operation Henry raids, which were coordinated by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and supported by the Department of Health.
Steep rise in seizure of smuggled cigarettes
Between April and December last year, 78.72 lakh cigarettes worth nearly Rs. 5.5 crore were seized
Smuggling of foreign cigarettes has been on an unusual rise in Bengaluru over the past several months, ostensibly due to high demand in the city, say customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport. Between April and December 2015, 78.72 lakh cigarettes worth nearly Rs. 5.5 crore were seized. This figure represents a steep rise from the 4.6 lakh cigarettes, valued at around Rs. 32.5 lakh, seized during the 2014-2015 financial year.
At least three to four cases of foreign cigarettes being smuggled have been reported daily over the past several months, a source in the Customs Department said.
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Drones pose new contraband, smuggling challenge for prisons
Wily inmates and their associates on the outside are deploying drones to deliver drugs, cellphones, and other contraband to prison yards, leaving prison guards and correctional authorities trying to decide how to deal with the new technology.After smuggling incidents around prisons in Maryland, Ohio and Oklahoma, Illinois lawmakers are proposing legislation to penalize the activity, even though the state has yet to see an incident on its own turf. Wisconsin and Michigan also have pending legislation to criminalize the use of drones over prisons.
he idea for the Illinois measure came from the state’s Department of Corrections. While drones haven’t been a problem yet, the department “is taking a proactive approach to ensure it does not” become one, spokeswoman Nicole Wilson said.
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EU tobacco deal needs thorough update if renewed
A lot has happened since 9 July 2004, when the European Commission signed what it called a landmark agreement with tobacco multinational Philip Morris International (PMI) to become partners in the fight against cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting.
That’s why Florence Berteletti, director of Brussels-based anti-tobacco lobby group Smoke Free Partnership, is against a renewal of the agreement after its expiry date this year.
“We were not opposed to the agreement at the time, but the world has changed enormously,” Berteletti told this website.
“The agreement is an instrument of the past.”
https://euobserver.com/economic/132255
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