Fake Aquafresh toothpaste in Malta to be destroyed

A judge in Malta has ordered the destruction of almost 100,000 tubes of counterfeit Aquafresh toothpaste seized last year.

The Mediterranean island country intercepted the shipment of toothpaste tubes – which were close copies of genuine products made by Aquafresh brand owner GlaxoSmithKline – last August, reports the Times of Malta.

The products were seized at the Malta Freeport by customs officers who suspected they were fake, and GSK confirmed the deception after laboratory analyses. The shipment was destined for a company based in Tunisian capital Tunis, according to the manifest.

The consignee was ordered to pay the cost of the destruction as well as other costs incurred in the inspection and analysis of the goods, says the news outlet.

Previous incidents of toothpaste counterfeiting have raised serious safety issues as the products were found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG), an ingredient linked to a number of fatal poisoning incidents involving counterfeit products in the past.

Intellectual property-related customs seizures in Malta rose sharply to 186 in 2018 from 64 in the prior year – an increase of 191 per cent – with the number of seized goods rising to 2.4m from 1.4m.

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