Customs officers yesterday (November 26) cracked a case involving the sale of counterfeit preserved vegetables.
Customs officers of the Trade Descriptions Investigation Division raided a food distributing company in Fanling and four groceries - two in Fanling, one in Sham Shui Po and another in Tuen Mun.
They seized 620 jars of counterfeit preserved dried cabbage, with retail value of about $5,000.
A total of two men and three women, aged between 29 and 56, were arrested.
After in-depth investigation based on information from a trade mark owner on the Mainland, Customs officers yesterday raided the four groceries and seized 80 jars of counterfeit preserved dried cabbage.
They later swooped on the office and the warehouse of the food distributing company, suspected to be the supplier of the counterfeits. Another 540 jars of counterfeit preserved dried cabbage were seized.
The case resulted from close co-operation between Hong Kong Customs and a Mainland trade mark owner.
Customs officers have alerted the Centre for Food Safety about the case.
Meanwhile, since the involved food is suspected of coming from the Mainland, Hong Kong Customs has referred details to the Mainland authorities for follow-up action.
Hong Kong Customs is committed to the clampdown on the sale of counterfeit food. It will continue to work closely with trade mark owners on market surveillance, and take prompt action when sale of counterfeit food is spotted.
Reports of suspected counterfeiting activities can be made to the Customs 24-hour hotline at 2545 6182.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, anyone convicted of selling goods with forged trade marks or false trade descriptions is liable to the maximum penalty of an imprisonment for five years and a fine of $500,000.
Ends/Tuesday, November 27, 2007
