Hong Kong Customs seized about 26 000 items of suspected counterfeit and smuggled goods with an estimated market value of about $2.6 million at the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal on October 19. This is the largest seaborne inbound counterfeit goods smuggling case detected by Customs in the past five years.
Through risk assessment, Customs officers on that day inspected a 40-foot container arriving in Hong Kong from Nansha, Guangdong. Upon inspection, Customs officers seized the batch of suspected counterfeit and smuggled goods in the container, including smartphones, watches, handbags and footwear.
Investigation is ongoing.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who imports or exports any goods to which a forged trade mark is applied commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Customs will continue to combat cross-border counterfeiting activities through strategies of risk-profiling and intelligence analysis.
Members of the public may report any suspected counterfeiting and smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, October 22, 2020
