WELLINGTON: New Zealand Customs stopped counterfeit items Smartphone, cosmetics and shoes at border. Customs intercepted more than 400 lots of fake goods, including branded sports clothes and caps, clothing, smart phones and accessories, footwear, and toys from children’s films.
Customs Manager Jonathan Morten said clothes and clothing accessories were the most common items with more than 230 interceptions of almost 14,000 sports-branded hats, vests, t-shirts, and themed clothes.
Fake smart phones, phone accessories, branded headphones and speakers and other electronic items were the second most common with more than 70 interceptions of about 7200 electronic products last year.Footwear was also popular, with more than 2200 pairs being intercepted.
Close to 800 pieces of furniture and household items, and almost 500 cosmetics and perfumes, 4,500 flags, 100 sporting helmets and 98 car air fresheners also made the hit list.
Mr Morten said one shipment intercepted at the end of 2014 had more than 14,000 goods, ranging from counterfeit children’s watches, hats and walkie-talkies to dolls and toys. All of the items were forfeited by the importer.
“Counterfeiters rapidly churn out fakes to keep up with market trends and it’s getting harder to tell them from the real deal. It’s recommended that online buyers use trusted and licensed websites to avoid being ripped off.
