Counterfeit clippings: news in brief

Phil Taylor, 25-Feb-2015

Counterfeit medicines in Nigeria; UK women jailed for fake toothpaste; Philippines destroys fake sneakers; and Vietnamese seizures.

A UK woman has been jailed for 15 months for trying to smuggle £2.7m-worth ($4.1m) of fake Oral B toothbrushes and Gillette razor blades - manufactured in China - which she sold to customers across Europe. The copies of the Procter & Gamble personal care brands were sold in large quantities by Jocelyn Hunter between May and June 2011, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Nigeria has destroyed counterfeit and substandard medicines worth around 500m naira (around $2.5m) that had been seized from or surrendered by traders across the Anambra state, reports The Tide newspaper. The products included fake drugs for malaria, high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as antibiotics, analgesics, various injectable drugs and multivitamins.

Meanwhile, a consumer survey has found that 8 per cent of Nigerians have personally been victims of fake, counterfeit and substandard pharmaceutical products, medicines and drugs, reports StarAfrica.com. The poll also suggested that independent pharmacies accounted for 68 per cent of cases while drug hawkers were responsible for 14 per cent.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the Philippines has destroyed more than 150,000 pairs of counterfeit sneakers - including Nikes, Adidas, Lacoste, Vans, Skechers and Converse knock-offs, amongst other brands - that had been valued at just over $1m. The counterfeits had been smuggled from China and were seized at a warehouse in Parañaque City in February last year. It took more than a year to negotiate the destruction of the fakes, including "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," said the BOC in a statement.

Last year, law enforcement agencies in Vetnam detected and prosecuted 17,396 cases of trading in counterfeit products, seizing goods worth an estimated 36bn dong ($1.7m), which represented a year-on-year increase of 24 per cent in the number of cases and 12 per cent in their value, reports Vietnamnet.vn. The proliferation of counterfeit products in Vietnam - from consumer electronics to pharmaceuticals and fertilisers - is slowing the nation’s economic growth and even putting people’s lives at risk, according to the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade.