MANILA: The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has destroyed 150,000 pairs of smuggled counterfeit footwear products of well-known brands worth at least P50 million, which were smuggled in Manila a year ago.
The counterfeit products were seized from a warehouse at Olivares Compound in Parañaque City. In a statement Tuesday, the bureau said over 150,000 pairs of smuggled counterfeit products of well-known brands including Nike, Adidas, Converse, Skechers, The North Face, Leaveland, Merrell, Lacoste, Vans, Havaianas, and Ipanema were “condemned.” Customs Commissioner John Sevilla said: “The shipments were subjected to a series of hearing yet it was a no show for any representative of the claimant, so these fake items were forfeited and destroyed.”
The products were seized in February last year from Warehouse 4 in Olivares Compound in Parañaque City. “We seized the warehouse to check the legality of the importation of goods, but the owner failed to produce proof of payment of duties and taxes from Customs. “Consequently, the warehouse was padlocked and sealed for BOC custody,” Sevilla said. The BOC move was based on a Warrant of Seizure and Detention for violation of Sections 2530 and 101 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines as amended in relation to the Intellectual Property Code.
Sevilla said the one-year gap between the seizure and actual condemnation of the smuggled products “could be attributed to a long process that included issuance of subpoenas to the concerned consignees and brokers, the need to secure the involvement of brand owners, and the conduct of hearings in accordance with existing regulations.”
The BOC’s Run-After-The-Smugglers (RATS) campaign continues to build cases against importers and brokers involved in counterfeit smuggling, according to the bureau. The Customs chief urged consumers to not to buy fake products. “Tigilan na po natin ito. Kapag wala pong tumatangkilik wala din pong bibili ng fake.” In April last year, the BOC also shredded more than 200 boxes of imported shoes seized at the Port of Davao after the shipment from China was discovered to be high-quality knockoffs.
