Hong Kong Customs seized about 63 000 items of suspected counterfeit and smuggled goods with an estimated market value of about $5.7 million at the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal on December 18.

     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 footwear, clothing and mobile phones and accessories.

     Initial investigations revealed that the batch of goods would have been re-exported to overseas countries.

     Investigation is ongoing.

     Customs will continue to strengthen co-operation with the Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies and take stringent enforcement action against cross-boundary counterfeit goods activities.

     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.

     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/Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Issued at HKT 16:33

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