Govt seizes P13.73B goods from Jan-July

The National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) said it has prevented some P13.73 billion worth of counterfeit goods from getting into the hands of consumers during the first seven months of 2019.

Separate operations by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) resulted in their seizure of some P9.32 billion and P3.9 billion worth of goods while the Food and Drug Administration confiscated worth P2.82 billion.

Majority of the counterfeit products were cigarettes and alcohol, followed by pharmaceutical and personal care products, handbags and wallets, optical media, and footwear.

The NCIPR has yet to authenticate the NBI’s P8 billion worth of haul which comprises mostly of tobacco. BoC’s capture of mostly wearable items worth P3.9 billion in a Divisoria mall has also yet to be validated.

The seizures during the period this year represents nearly 60 percent of the overall capture in 2018 which stood at P23.6 billion.

“The implementation of the hike in new and huge taxes on tobacco will start next year. Also, we are closely watching developments on the proposal to impose taxes on alcohol products and e-cigarettes and other vapor products,” said Josephine Santiago, Director-General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, who is also is vice-chair of NCIPR.