Customs seizing more fake goods

The number of suspected fake products being stopped at our borders almost doubled last year as Customs deals with a surge in attempts to bring high-end fashion and electronic knock-offs into New Zealand.

Customs intercepted more than 50,000 suspected fake items in 56 incidents between January and August 2016 – well up on the 27,000 found during all of the previous year.

Details released under the Official Information Act show staff seized an average of about 130 items a day over the past two years.

Many were fake branded goods, such as T-shirts with the Disney logo and a picture of Mickey Mouse, made without Disney’s permission.

But Customs cargo operations manger Bruce Berry said a honey company using fake labels to pass its products off as top-quality manuka without a license was also among the counterfeit cases.

Other goods breaching trademark or copyright laws included sports equipment and children’s toys, as well as high-end fashion

Customs intercepted more than 50,000 suspected fake items in 56 incidents between January and August – well up on the 27,000 found during all of 2015.

items and electronics.

‘‘Recently we’ve seen more fake electronic goods such as wireless headphones, cellphone screens, cases and batteries, and even smart watches,’’ Berry said.

Counterfeit goods are different from those brought into the country through parallel importing, in which genuine goods whose manufacturers have met trademark and copyright laws are imported for sale at prices cheaper than equivalents made in here.

The biggest single haul of 19,000 suspected counterfeit clothing items was from a shipping container at Tauranga, but Customs would not reveal details about what was inside it.

In Wellington, at least 168 items of counterfeit art, 488 pieces of furniture, and about 100 watches were seized in the past couple of years.

Trade Me head of trust and safety Jon Duffy said it did not matter if sellers listed counterfeit items as copies, replicas, fake or pirated – the listings would be removed.

‘‘You’d be pretty foolish to try to start a business selling counterfeit goods on Trade Me. You leave deep electronic footprints and we’d shut something like this down very quickly,’’ Duffy said.

‘‘The majority of counterfeit items listed on-site are done out of ignorance. We contact the seller to warn them, and that’s the end of the matter.’’ Most common items included GHD hair straighteners, Nike footwear and designer-brand handbags.

Intellectual property law specialist and AJ Park senior associate Matthew Hayes said rights holders could seek civil court remedies, including declarations that other goods were fakes, injunctions to stop people making them, and damages. Maximum penalties were five years in prison or a $150,000 fine.