The Bureau of Customs – Port of Subic recently intercepted two 40-foot container shipments carrying counterfeit goods with an estimated value of P240 million.
Included in the shipments are Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Under Armour, Lacoste, GAP, Nike, Zara, Reebok, and other brands, in violation of Intellectual Property Rights regulations.
“This operation demonstrates ongoing efforts to combat the infringement of intellectual property and protect the rights of legitimate businesses,” the Customs said in a statement over the weekend.
Port of Subic District Collector Carmelita Talusan immediately issued consecutive Pre-Lodgment Control Orders after she received intelligence reports on the shipments.
Customs officers identified the containers carrying merchandise suspected of infringing upon protected intellectual property rights through a 100-percent physical examination and cross-referencing of documentation.
Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, together with Talusan and in partnership with other authorities
acted on the report and discovered 1,269 boxes of counterfeit products bearing trademarks and copyrighted materials without the required authorization from the rights holders.
The shipments were initially reported to contain T-shirts but were later found to contain assorted brand-new apparel with logos and designs of branded goods.
