Customs tightens controls on World Cup counterfeits

Chinese customs has seized a large shipment of sportswear with pirated designs based on those for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Customs in Ningbo in East China’s Zhejiang Province announced on Monday the seizure of 1,800 counterfeit soccer uniforms using the FIFA name as well as 14,844 pairs of sneakers labeled with the Adidas and Nike brands, FIFA’s commercial sponsors. Customs has contacted FIFA for verification of the counterfeiting.

Customs in Yiwu, also in Zhejiang, seized some 288 counterfeit match balls. The balls were unbranded, but were printed with patterns resembling the official match ball for the World Cup and pictures of World Cup trophies and signs reading “Russia 2018.”

Yiwu is known as the “world supermarket” for its wholesale goods. Customs inspectors in the city have carried out stringent inspections on piracy and organized anti-piracy public campaigns.

The Hangzhou customs in the provincial capital said it will impose fines on exporters.

Customs authorities in China’s major export-oriented production bases, including Zhejiang, Guangdong and Hubei provinces, started a battle against World Cup counterfeiting in March. By Monday, the Hangzhou Customs had seized a total of 32,398 goods violating World Cup intellectual property rights.