Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival lantern makers hurt by Chinese copycats
While the Mid-Autumn Festival market in Vietnam is often filled with cheap, low-quality Chinese lanterns, local producers this year face yet another headache from the foreign rivals, who are selling low-cost imitations of their new products.
Vietnamese parents have switched to buying locally made lanterns for their kids in recent years, when awareness of the poor quality, and sometimes toxicity, of Chinese-made products had been significantly enhanced.
Lear More
Custom deploys 11 gunboats to fight piracy, smuggling
The Nigerian Custom Service (NCS) said it has deployed 11 gunboats to fight pirates and smugglers within the Western waterways comprising Lagos and Ogun states respectively, saying that the Service was forced to deploy its gunboats following the increasing number of pirates who have resorted to the use of the waterways to carry out their criminal activities.
The Custom Area Controller (CAC), Western Marine Command, Umar Yusuf made this disclosure in Lagos at a public destruction of about 2,000 cartons of imported frozen products. The products were said to have been seized by operatives of the command on Sunday and Monday at Badagry area of Lagos.
Lear MoreHome briefs: Cigarette smuggling attempt foiled
A 42-year-old Malaysian man’s attempt to smuggle into Singapore 4,050 boxes of contraband cigarettes and 150 bundles of tobacco in a container truck was stopped at the Tuas Checkpoint on Saturday. The total duty and goods and services tax due on the items amounted to $419,000, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said yesterday.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/home-briefs-cigarette-smuggling-attempt-foiled
Lear More
Over a fifth of FMCG products in India are fake or smuggled
Walk down the public bridge of any local railway station here or any other city for that matter and it is not uncommon to find popular consumer products available dirt cheap. But before you rush to make a purchase, consider it might be a fake.
Despite the war mounted by fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies on counterfeiting, the menace hardly seems to have abated. A recent study by advisory firm KPMG and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) shows sales of fake consumer goods are growing faster than the overall consumer products market.
Lear MoreSniffer dogs uncover huge haul of illicit tobacco and Viagra tablets
Sniffer dogs followed their noses to a “shocking” stash of illicit tobacco and Viagra tablets in a series of raids on Walthamstow businesses. The joint operation between Waltham Forest council trading standards and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) took place on Thursday (September 3) as officers raided six off-licenses following intelligence about the sale of non-duty paid cigarettes.
The sniffer dogs uncovered 14,300 illicit foreign cigarettes at Food & Wine in Hoe Street which had been concealed among canned drinks, sweets and chocolate and sprayed with disinfectant in a bid to disguise the scent.
Lear More
Hoodlums beat NAFDAC officials, policemen chasing fake products
Officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and mobile Policemen attached to its enforcement directorate have been attacked by traders and touts in Lagos and Ogun states.Mr AnslemOkonkwor, Public Relations Officer, Enforcement Operations of the agency, narrated the ordeal of the NAFDAC officials in a statement on Sunday.
According to him, the assaulted enforcement teams of the agency were on a nationwide raid for fake, unregistered, counterfeit and suspected contaminated vegetable oil in major markets and distribution channels in the states.
http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2015/09/hoodlums-beat-nafdac-officials-policemen-chasing-fake-products/
Lear MoreWolverhampton shops in £150K bust may lose licences
Two shops face losing their licences after police raids found them selling counterfeit tobacco and illicit alcohol.Euro Shop and International Mini Market, known as Sam Euro Style, were both raided by police and trading standards officers and found to have large quantities of non-duty paid and counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes, and non-duty paid alcohol.
Raids of both premises on July 17 netted the biggest ever haul of illicit booze and cigarettes, with an estimated £150,000 of goods seized from both stores.
Lear MoreDubai Customs foils smuggling attempt of 35m tramadol pills and 2.5 tons of powder tramadol
Dubai Customs officers have seized 35 million tramadol pills and 2.5 tons of tramadol powder
Dubai Customs officers have seized 35 million tramadol pills and 2.5 tons of powder tramadol. A shipment of the painkiller, which is prohibited from circulation outside prescribed medical use, was intercepted at Jebel Ali Port, coming from an Asian country.The drugs were detected by Dubai Customs inspectors at Jebel Ali Customs Centre, using its internationally-acclaimed, award-winning Risk Engine system.
“In a failed attempt to hoodwink Customs officers, the importer packed the tramadol powder in plastic bags inside 100 barrels, and the 35 million tramadol pills were concealed in 140 cartoon boxes,” the Director of Jebel Ali Customs Centres Management at Dubai Customs Yousuf Al Hashemi said.
Lear MoreAttorney General Koster halts sale of fake motor products
St. Louis, Mo. – Attorney General Chris Koster today announced a settlement with M & N Missouri L.L.C., doing business as Unique Mart, of St. Louis County, and the company’s owner, Mohammed Qasem, for offering harmful and mislabeled automotive products for sale. The agreement requires Qasem and his business to cease carrying products the Missouri Department of Agriculture has found to be harmful and to pay the state $2,000 in civil penalties, $4,000 in suspended penalties, and future penalties of $5,000 per violation if he again violates the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act or another Stop Sale Notice.
http://themissouritimes.com/21631/attorney-general-koster-halts-sale-of-fake-motor-products/
Lear MoreNigeria: NCS Cautions Nigerians Against Shun Smuggling
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has warned Nigerians to avoid taking smuggling as a business or means of livelihood.The service also enjoined Nigerians to shun buying contrabands such as frozen poultry products as their harmful to their health.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’, Owerri, Imo State, Comptroller Victor David Dimka gave the warning while making public the recent exploits of the units in the zone.He stated that men and officers of the NCS are now better trained and are undergoing capacity building all over the commands and the Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja to meet challenges of tackling smuggling.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201509041319.html
Lear More