B
TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 1988
CUSTOMS WINS BATTLE AGAINST FAKE GOODS
* * * * *
THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE DEPARTMENT'S EFFORTS AGAINST COMMERCIAL COUNTERFEITING HAVE NOT ONLY WON UNANIMOUS APPLAUSE ABROAD, BUT HAVE ALSO WIPED OUT HONG KONG'S NOTORIOUS NAME AS A CENTRE GOODS.
OF COUNTERFEIT
MR K.S. TONG,
THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS AND EXCISE, SAID THIS TODAY (TUESDAY) AT A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF HONG KONG NORTHWEST.
REVIEWING COUNTERFEITING ACTIVITIES IN HONG KONG, HE SAID COMMERCIAL COUNTERFEITING WERE NOT, AS RUMOURS ALLEGED, CONFINED ONLY TO HONG KONG OR SOUTHEAST ASIA. THE MANUFACTURING PLACES OF AND THE MARKETS FOR COUNTERFEITS SPREAD ALL OVER THE WORLD.
MR TONG ALSO COMPARED THE HARMFUL EFFECTS BROUGHT ABOUT BY COMMERCIAL COUNTERFEITING TO THOSE OF THE GLOBAL DRUG MENACE, NOTING THAT THE VOLUME OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS TRADE HAD ACCOUNTED FOR ALMOST THREE PER CENT, OR US$60 BILLION, OF THE TOTAL GLOBAL TRADE IN RECENT YEARS.
HE POINTED OUT THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAD WALKED A THORNY OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS IN FIGHTING COUNTERFEIT GOODS AND HAD REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS.
GOODS
PATH
MADE
HAS
"THE NUMBER OF PROSECUTIONS INVOLVING FAKE INCREASED FROM 330 IN 1982 ΤΟ 889 LAST YEAR, AND THE VALUE OF SEIZURES INCREASED FROM $16 MILLION TO $56 MILLION.
"MOST OF THE GOODS SEIZED ARE GARMENTS, LEATHER GOODS, WATCHES, FOOD STUFFS, ELECTRONIC CALCULATORS, COMPUTER PARTS, PATENT MEDICINES AND PLASTIC PRODUCTS. THEIR RETAIL PRICES IN THE LOCAL MARKET ARE 50 PER CENT TO 90 PER CENT CHEAPER THAN THE GENUINE ONES."
COMMENTING ON THE ONCE SERIOUS PROBLEM OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS, MR TONG SAID THE SELLING OF SUCH GOODS IN THE STREET WAS NOW CLOSE TO TOTAL ELIMINATION.
HAWKING OF BY HAWKERS
"THE YEAR 1985 WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL YEAR IN STRIKING AT HAWKERS SELLING FAKE GOODS WHEN A MAJOR OPERATION WAS LAUNCHED IN APRIL AND A SPECIAL OPERATION UNIT SET UP IN MAY TO CONDUCT RAIDS ON HAWKERS.
"BY JULY 1985, NEARLY 90 PER CENT OF STREET HAWKERS NO LONGER TOOK PART IN THE SELLING OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS. A TOTAL OF 385 HAWKERS WERE PROSECUTED AND $1.6 MILLION WORTH OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS SEIZED DURING THE YEAR.
"AS A
RESULT
OF VIGOROUS
CUSTOMS
ACTIONS
AGAINST MANUFACTURERS OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS IN 1985, SOME OF THEM WERE FORCED TO MOVE THEIR BASE TO CHINA, AND SMUGGLED THFIR PRODUCTS BACK FOR SALE OR RE-EXPORT,"
TURNING TO