COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Customs today publicly destroyed Rs. 31 million worth of goods imported into the country illegally in 2017.
The items seized by the Legal Enforcement Unit protecting Intellectual property rights of the Sri Lankan Customs in 2017, were destroyed on Monday (January 22) at the Orugodawatta Container yard.
Large stocks of counterfeit items including school equipment, toys, mobile phone spare parts and auto parts were destroyed. Most of these items have been imported under famous brand names. The items were crushed by a stone roller.
He said the main purpose of the exercise was to protect the rights of traders who import original products to the country legally.”Today we destroyed the equipment imported violating the Customs Act and the Intellectual Property Act,” the spokesman for the Customs, Sunil Jayaratne told media after destroying the goods.
When asked about the possibility of using the items instead of destroying, the spokesperson said most of the items are inferior goods and rejected for consumer consumption.
He said the items are cheap imitations of original brand name items and made of cheap plastics and cancer-causing chemicals.
“We have seen the explosions of these low-quality mobile phone parts. This makes a big impact on health,” he said.
Therefore, the Sri Lanka Customs requests the public to submit complaints about importing goods violating the intellectual property rights.
