Customs hauls in massive haul of illicit cigarettes and molasses tobacco
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) has seized 300,000 illicit cigarettes and 1,866 kilograms of illicit molasses tobacco in Melbourne. On Monday 24 March, ACBPS officers at the Melbourne Container Examination Facility referred the shipment for further examination, when an x-ray of its contents revealed anomalies. During the examination, approximately 100 cardboard boxes containing illicit cigarettes and tobacco were identified amongst boxes of household goods including blankets, plasticware and ornaments. ACBPS national manager cargo operations Jagtej Singh said the potential revenue evasion of this seizure is estimated to be over one million dollars. “Tobacco is considered illicit or illegal if it is not declared at the border and does not have the appropriate duty paid,” Mr Singh said. “Customs and Border Protection takes the importation of illicit cigarettes and tobacco very seriously as it denies the Commonwealth of legitimate revenue in an attempt to evade tax. “We are committed to combating tobacco smuggling through whole-of-agency activity in collaboration with government, industry and international partners.” During 2012-13, Customs and Border Protection made 76 seizures of smuggled tobacco products in sea cargo, consisting of 183 tonnes of tobacco and 200 million cigarettes, representing a potential duty evasion of $151 million. The maximum penalty for tobacco smuggling is a fine of up to five times the amount of duty evaded or 10 years gaol time.
Lear MoreLargest illegal tobacco haul in Lewisham
A Lewisham retailer has been found with over £100,000 worth of illegal tobacco – believed to be the biggest find by Trading Standards in the country.
On Saturday 22 March, a Lee High Road retailer was searched by Lewisham Council’s Trading Standards officers finding 600kg of illegal Chinese hand rolling tobacco, with a potential street value of over £100,000. The manager of the shop stated the premises did not sell or stock cigarettes. However, officers from Lewisham Council, with the help of a tobacco detection dog called Jack, sniffed out the substantial find in the shop and store room. The owner of the shop is now under investigation. In the same week, officers also seized 10,000 Chinese cigarettes and counterfeit hand rolling tobacco in Deptford, and 15,000 Russian cigarettes in Lee Green. Trading Standards are also investigating this further. Lewisham Council, the police and HM Customs, carry out targeted raids on premises considered to be selling illegal tobacco. Any proprietor found to stock or sell these will be liable to prosecution. Illegal tobacco can be reported anonymously by calling the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0845 404 0506.
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Africa loses $60bn annually through illicit financial flows – Mbeki
A former South African President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, on Sunday in Abuja said African countries lose between 50 billion dollars and 60 billion dollars annually through illicit financial flows (IFF). Mbeki said this while presenting the Progress Report of the High-Level Panel on IFF at the ongoing 7th AU-ECA Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance. Mbeki was the Chairman of the panel set up by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in 2012 to look into the nature of illicit funds in the continent. He said the huge sums did not include capital flight, saying it came from proceeds of commercial transactions through multinational companies, criminal activities and corruption.
The former South African president lamented that the monies which would have been used to provide infrastructure and social amenities for the poor African population were transferred to other countries. “Consequently, this left the continent in poverty,’’ he added. Mbeki said the situation was occasioned by the weakened tax regime of some countries in the continent, adding that proper mechanism needed to be put in place to check the trend. “In terms of the phenomenon of mis-pricing, the estimates are between 50 and 60 billion dollars which the continent loses as illicit financial flows, with capital flight not included.
Lear MoreDid IAF’s ‘US-made’ C-130J Super Hercules that crashed have fake Chinese parts?
India has plans to buys six more C-130J Super Hercules to augment its transport fleet.
WASHINGTON: India’s newly-acquired American C-130J Super Hercules plane that crashed last week near Gwalior has been under intense scrutiny in the United States and Canada after a Senate investigation concluded that counterfeit parts in the aircraft’s display systems could cause it to “lose data or even go blank altogether” in midflight, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
A 2011-2012 investigation by the US Senate armed services committee eventually traced the counterfeit electronic parts used in the C-130J, C-27J, and many other US military systems to a company in Shenzhen, China, called Hong Dark Electronic Trade Company. Hong Dark sold the parts at issue to Global IC Trading Group, an independent distributor in the US, which in turn sold it to L-3 Communications Display Systems, which in turn supplied it to Lockheed Martin, the US military’s prime contractor for the C-130J.
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9 most counterfeited products in the USA
Counterfeit products may cost the global economy up to $250 billion a year, according to estimates from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Millions of those shipments enter the United States. While government agencies do their best to crack down on counterfeit goods, they only manage to catch a fraction of the fake products that enter the United States. Still, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) values that seized fraction at staggering amounts. The value of counterfeit goods seized rose by 38.1% in 2013, from $1.2 billion in 2012 to $1.7 billion last year.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/03/29/24-7-wall-st-counterfeited-products/7023233/
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Interpol Course to Fight Counterfeit Goods Ends in Kigali
Police officers from seven Eastern and Southern African countries, on March 27, completed a tactical course in Kigali to lay stringent measures against counterfeit and smuggled products. Forty-four officers from Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia Zambia and Rwanda, took part in the three-day exercise.The Interpol exercise dubbed “Operation Wipeout” to be conducted in the seven countries will target fuel, beverages, cigarettes, foodstuff and home-care products.
Other products include pesticides, mobile phones, their accessories, electrical products and electronics. Commissioner of Police (CP), Emmanuel Butera, the Commissioner for Operations, while closing the training thanked Interpol for the initiative to fight illicit and smuggled products in the region, which pose threat to the economy and consumers’ health.He observed organised criminal networks use profits from trafficking and selling illicit goods to fund criminal activities such as drug and human trafficking and terrorism.
http://en.igihe.com/news/interpol-course-to-fight-counterfeit-goods-ends.html
Lear MoreN.Y. is top destination for smuggled cigarettes
A study released in March by a tax group shows an increase in cigarette smuggling to New York, which tops the list as the top smuggling destination and the state with the highest tax rate on cigarettes. New York was also the highest ranked in a similar report last year by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research group based out of Michigan. The Tax Foundation wrote in its March 19 report that the highest inbound cigarette smuggling state was New York followed by Arizona, New Mexico, Washington and Wisconsin. The highest outbound cigarette smuggling state was New Hampshire, followed by Wyoming, Idaho, Virginia and Delaware.
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Report: High cigarette tax fuels black market in state
PHOENIX — A cigarette tax higher than neighboring states and cheaper prices on American Indian reservations have helped fuel a growing a black market for cigarettes in Arizona, according a study by a Washington, D.C., think tank. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan group that advocates for transparent and broad-based taxation, estimated that smuggled cigarettes made up 51.5 percent of Arizona’s cigarette consumption in 2012. While Arizona taxes cigarettes at $2 per pack, the taxes in neighboring states range from 80 cents per pack in Nevada to $1.66 per pack in New Mexico. American Indian reservations also are less-expensive sources of cigarettes. “All this works in concert to make it a very profitable market,” said Scott Drenkard, economist at the Tax Foundation. Arizona’s estimated percentage of smuggled cigarettes ranked second in the report to 56.9 percent in New York, which had the nation’s the highest tax per pack at $4.35.
Lear More“Fake It Til You Make It” Just Got a Lot Harder
The streets of N.Y.C.’s Chinatown are wet with tears as U.S. Border Patrol officers seize a record $1.7 billion of fake bags, clothes and electronics. Stroll down New York City’s Canal Street and you’re bound to stumble on one—or more like 20—vendors peddling counterfeit apparel and accessories: “Louis Vuitton” purses, “Rolex” watches and “Apple” devices. Armed with a keen eye for detail, these entrepreneurial salesmen and women are the masters of (illegal) capitalism, but soon they may be forced to outfit their stands with a lot less merchandise. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is cracking down on counterfeits in record numbers, according the group’s latest report on “intellectual property rights” seizures at U.S. borders unveiled this week. And just how many faux luxury goods—handbags, watches, consumer electronics and shoes—is that? There were 22,848 overall seizures, or an average of 66 per day, in the CBP’s 2013 fiscal year—7 percent more raids than in the previous year. And talk about a lot of Louis; the goods’ estimated cash value increased by 38 percent to more than $1.7 billion.
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Counterfeiting: bad medicine – International Report
Two different news reports recently presented two very different sides of the counterfeiting story. CNN recently did a piece about counterfeits in China, with a particular emphasis on Beats, a brand of headphones owned by rapper Dr Dre. The report stated that headphones that will set you back $400 in the West can be picked up for a mere $70 in China. It stated how a recent joint operation involving US and Chinese officials netted 243,000 counterfeit goods, including Beats and major brands such as Apple and Microsoft. The report went on to discuss some of the tricks used by counterfeiters to avoid detection, such as double packaging of goods, first in the counterfeit packaging that the product will be sold in and then in different packaging which is removed when the goods reach their destination.
The second report was in Business Day and dealt with the issue of counterfeit medicines. The report gave an insight into the problem of counterfeit drugs, which has become so serious that major pharmaceutical companies have teamed up with Interpol to establish a programme aimed at training law enforcement officers to identify fake prescription drugs.
http://www.iam-magazine.com/reports/detail.aspx?g=bc0ef626-d430-4f85-827e-b5fbdb1dff1d
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