Hong Kong Customs earlier conducted a special operation against the sale of infringing goods at mobile hawker stalls and seized a total of about 2 300 items of suspected infringing goods with an estimated market value of about $520,000 in Central and Lau Fau Shan in the past two days (January 17 and 18).
Customs officers raided multiple mobile hawker stalls selling suspected infringing goods as well as an upstairs storage centre in Central on January 17. A batch of suspected infringing goods including clothes, leather products, handbags, wallets and eyeglasses were seized.
Customs further raided a container depot in Lau Fau Shan yesterday and seized another batch of suspected infringing goods in two containers. Initial investigations revealed that the goods were to be supplied to the mobile hawker stalls in Central for sale.
During the operation, Customs arrested one man and two women, aged between 25 and 42.
With the imminent arrival of the Lunar New Year, Customs will continue to step up inspection and enforcement to combat the sale of infringing goods before and during the holiday.
Customs reminds consumers to procure goods at reputable shops and to check with the trademark owners or their authorised agents if the authenticity of a product is in doubt. Traders should also be cautious and prudent in merchandising since the sale of counterfeit goods is a serious crime and offenders are liable to criminal sanctions.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who sells or possesses for sale any goods with a forged trademark commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Under the Copyright Ordinance, any person who sells or possesses for sale any infringing goods commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $50,000 per infringing copy and imprisonment for four years.
Members of the public may report any suspected infringing activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Tuesday, January 19, 2021
