Hong Kong Customs, acting on intelligence, raided an office and a warehouse of a trading company in Kowloon Bay and seized about 9 800 items of counterfeit goods including handbags, wallets, glasses and mobile phone cases. The total value of the seizure is about $1.4 million.
Investigation revealed that the goods were intended for smuggling to Paraguay by express delivery. A man, aged 57, who was the person-in-charge of the company and two female staff, aged 53 and 61, were arrested in the operation.
Due to the fast growth of online retailing business and transnational courier delivery in recent years, criminals tend to make use of global express service in infringing activities. It has been observed that the trend is on the rise.
To tackle the situation, Hong Kong Customs has established partnerships with major express courier companies in Hong Kong and mounted a series of operations to intercept infringing goods being smuggled via courier delivery.
From January to early November in 2013, more than 84 000 items of infringing goods, including electronic goods, clothing, leather goods and pirated optical discs, worth about $9 million, were seized. The seizures have recorded significant increases, rising eight-fold in quantity and 10-fold in value compared with the corresponding figures in 2012. It was found that most of the seized goods were destined for the US and European countries.
Apart from active co-ordination with the logistics industry, the fruitful results of Customs' operations are also attributed to effective intelligence collection and analysis. In addition to partnering with the rights holders, Hong Kong Customs also closely co-operates with the enforcement agencies in the region and worldwide. Through swift intelligence exchange and co-ordination, prompt investigations can be conducted to track the origins and the destinations of express parcels containing infringing goods.
As the Christmas holiday is approaching, Hong Kong Customs will continue to step up operations to combat the smuggling of counterfeit and pirated goods.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, it is a criminal offence to import, export and be in possession of goods with forged trademarks for sale. The maximum penalty is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years. Under the Copyright Ordinance, it is illegal to import, export, sell or manufacture infringing items. The maximum punishment is imprisonment for four years and a fine of $50,000 for each infringing copy.
Anyone who comes across any suspected counterfeiting activities can report them to Customs by calling the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182.
Ends/Monday, November 11 2013
