January 2014

FICCI CASCADE with an aim to sensitise the young people on various modalities…, Patna

22/1/2014 | Patna

“Freedom from Fakes and Smuggled goods”

FICCI CASCADE with an aim to sensitise the young people on various modalities of working together to address the harms posed by counterfeiting and smuggling organised a youth festival- An Inter-College Competition on the theme of Youth Against Counterfeiting and Smuggling in collaboration with Magadh Mahila College and Adyopant Legal services on 22^nd January, 2013 in Patna.

FICCI CASCADE is arming the consumer with knowledge to make informed choices and awareness of the ill-effects of fake, counterfeit and smuggled products.  Youth Festival was organized to energize the consumers to take up the fight against Smuggling and Counterfeiting.  Around 250 students took enthusiastic interest in the topic and around 80 students participated in multiple competitions to help the economy with their zeal to eradicate this menace.

Professor (Dr.) Dolly Sinha, Principal delivered the welcome address and highlighted the impacts of counterfeiting and smuggling in the state of Bihar. Mr. P C Jha, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE gave an overview on the growing menace of counterfeiting and smuggling. He asked for consumer support to fight this problem and raised consumer awareness on the topic by highlighting various examples and also sharing the magnitude of the problem which has stretched long and where government is facing immense loss in term of revenue and human are facing health and safety risk.

FICCI CASCADE seeks to strengthen the movement against counterfeiting and smuggling for social development and economic growth of the nation. Shri Shyam Rajak, Hon’ble Minister for Food and Consumer Protection, Government of Bihar in his special address emphasised on the growing terrorism being funded by such organised crimes.  The affect of the menace of counterfeiting and smuggling is creating on the Indian economy was discussed. He also stated that such activities are causing Rs. 1,00,000 crores annual sales loss to industry and Rs. 26, 190 crores annual Tax loss to government referring to FICCI CASCADE study on “Socio-economic Impact of Counterfeiting, Smuggling and Tax evasion in seven key Industry Sectors”. He encouraged the youth to take part in such competitions and work for the benefit of society as a whole.  He also emphasised on the need to ask for a bill as a proof of every purchase to claim against this crime. He congratulated FICCI CASCADE and also mentioned that government is trying to reduce the amount of tax on the products and have seeked Central Govt support for the same.

Counterfeiters and Smugglers are malignant to the economy and industries and have been ruining the culture and system of the country, hence with a thought to discard such rotten apples from the society, one need to understand the extent to which it has destroyed the roots.

The problem of the growth of illicit activities like smuggling and counterfeiting is alarming and every individual must target at exterminating this demon from the society. It lacks passion and through such awareness programme, FICCI CASCADE tends to ignite that passion among the youth to take this initiative ahead and fight the perils of counterfeiting and smuggling.

Tobacco smuggling gobbles up sales tax revenue

That tobacco products are being smuggled into the country, evading the 100 percent sales tax, is evident from the decrease in sales tax revenue collected at the regional customs office in Phuentsholing.  As the busiest border town, most tobacco products enter the country through Phuentsholing.  There is no dearth of tobacco products, especially cigarettes and chewing tobacco, but the regional revenue and customs office collected only Nu 234,502 in sales tax in 2013.  The year before, they collected Nu 275,506. Incidents of tobacco confiscation, however, have increased in 2013, going by police records.

Palau Quarantine Officer To Serve Jail Time For Illegal Cigarette Smuggling

A quarantine officer from Palau national government is set to serve two years in jail for his involvement in an illegal cigarette smuggling scheme.  On January 16, 2014, Jeff Tewid pled guilty to three counts of bribery and one count of misconduct in public office. According to information from the Attorney General’s Office, Tewid accepted bribes, and demanded bribes from a local hotel to allow a container to bypass the quarantine and customs process.  In addition to his two-year jail sentence, Tewid through the terms of his plea agreement is also ordered to pay $45,000 dollars in fines. Furthermore, he is prohibited from seeking any employment from the Republic of Palau, all 16 states, government departments, agencies or boards for 10 years.  The AG’s office expressed that the plea came as a direct result of a long and thorough investigation by Palau’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Poll on mind, Cabinet set to ratify sops

The Cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday seems to have a definite agenda. With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the Council of Ministers is expected to announce a series of tax concessions. The Cabinet will discuss the withdrawal of one-time tax on city buses operating in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bathinda; withdrawal of sin tax on cigarettes and slashing VAT on iron and steel goods, scrap and finished goods. All these decisions are aimed at wooing the urban voters. The SAD-BJP Government feels that these people have weaned away from them because of imposition of property tax and advance tax.  Sources said there was a proposal to waive one-time tax on buses operating in cities, amounting to Rs 500 per bus. This tax is paid to the Transport Department before the buses are commissioned. These buses have been commissioned under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and the government proposes to waive this tax so as to make travel cheaper.

MMEA foiled smuggling of cigarettes worth RM1m last year

PORT KLANG: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled the smuggling of 3,264,800 cigarettes last year.  The haul, worth about RM1 million, was seized through numerous enforcement operations within Selangor and Johor waters. MMEA southern region enforcement chief First Admiral Adon Shalan said the tobacco products were discovered without proper tax stamps. “The increasing demand for cheap cigarettes at roughly RM6 per box has become a factor in the increase of such illicit trade activities,” he said during a press conference after the disposal of the smuggled cigarettes at the MMEA office, here. He added that many of the smugglers were also equipped with four-cylinder boats while MMEA was only utilising two-cylinder boats. Nevertheless, he said the agency would increase its efforts and cooperation with other agencies to trace such illegal activities. He revealed that the agency would increase the number of officers involved in enforcement patrols from 700 to 1,100 this year.

Facebook Competition on Capturing Fakes & Smuggled

Man ordered to pay for smuggling tobacco

A Nottingham man has been sentenced for evading close to £21,000 in excise duty, after smuggling 100kg of hand-rolling tobacco into Portsmouth Ferry Port. He was ordered to repay the duty within six months – or face 15 months in prison and still owe the money. Paul Adlington concealed the tobacco within internal panelling of his Ford Transit van. He was arrested by Border Force officers at the city’s continental ferry port in August, and pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 10 January. “It is important that we pursue criminals’ profits through the courts and recover money for UK taxpayers. This type of crime not only undermines legitimate retailers who have to compete with illegal imports, but also costs the UK economy around £2billion a year. People with information about tobacco smuggling should contact the Customs’ Hotline on 0800 59 5000.”

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/story/2014-01-14/man-fined-thousands-for-smuggling-tobacco/

$100,000 in counterfeit clothing seized in raid on Fruit Belt market

Police raided a Fruit Belt food store Monday, thinking they would find illegal guns. They found some weapons, but police said they also found something else – more than $100,000 in counterfeit trademark clothing.  Hats, sneakers, jackets, belts and other apparel were seized along with $25,000 in cash believed to be profits from sales of the bootleg clothing. The clothing had fake labels from Air Jordan, Champion, Coach, the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. There were more than 1,000 New York Yankees baseball hats alone amid the boxes of clothing filling the warehouse, police said.