Campaign nets R1m of goods POLICE ARE pressing ahead with their campaign against illegal imports and counterfeit goods.
In the latest swoop Gauteng police seized goods worth more than R1m in Johannesburg and Pretoria, mostly from street vendors.
In one raid nine hawkers and two Chinese retailers were arrested for dealing in counterfeit products.
The products included cheap copies of name-brand running shoes.
For the past several months police together with industry representatives have targeted flea markets and informal sellers who sell anything from fake cassettes to Cape Town Olympic bid tee-shirts.
Retailers say they are losing millions of rands each month to cheap ripoffs that come in mostly from the Far East.
Sources told FTW that SA is coming under increased pressure from its trading partners to protect the integrity of their manufacturers' products.
Companies who want to set up production facilities or export to SA are concerned that their products and reputation are under threat from low-grade, cheap imitations.
Local retail stores have also demanded that action be taken against fake goods.
They too are under threat from the large quantities of counterfeit products that compete with their own brands.
It is believed that police are attacking the problem at retail level as it is easier to spot these products out in the open than to try and intercept them as they come through customs.
Although customs officials also keep a look-out for counterfeit products, the rate of container inspection is so low as to make detection almost impossible.
But by confiscating goods from sellers and imposing fines police and manufacturers hope to make trade in counterfeit goods a risky business.
By Gavin Du Venage
