Macedonian Customs Destroy Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Gillette, Diesel Counterfeits

On March 17 and 18, 2011, the Macedonian Customs Administration destroyed a significant quantity of counterfeit goods, originating in Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates. The goods were destroyed in a furnace at a factory in the town of Kavadarci, south-central Macedonia, in the presence of the trademark representatives and the media.

The goods that were destroyed included:

• 8,200 textile articles bearing the logos of D&G, Lacoste, Nike, Levi’s, Adidas, Diesel, G-Star, Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, and Puma;
• 7,000 pairs of footwear bearing the logos of Puma, Adidas, Reebok, All Star, Nike, and Converse;
• 70 sweaters bearing the logo of Camel;
• 9,000 cosmetic products bearing the logos of Calvin Klein, Chanel, D&G, Gucci, Kenzo, Davidoff, Adidas, Joop, and Lacoste;
• 620 pieces of technical equipment bearing the logos of Panasonic and Nokia;
• 130,000 pieces of PVC bags bearing the logo of Tommy Hilfiger;
• 54,000 pieces of labels, buttons and emblems with logos of Lacoste, Nike, Adidas, Versace, Levis, and Diesel;
• 20,500 pieces of accessories bearing the logos of Gillette, D&G, Mercedes, Nike, and Opel;
• 18,000 kg of washing powder bearing the logo of Ariel.

You can see the photos of the destruction here.

Macedonian Customs Director Vanco Kargov explained for Macedonian daily Vest that over the last two years the Customs released 3,360 counterfeit shoes and clothing items on the market because the trademark representatives failed to initiate procedures for destruction.

“If the representative confirms that the intellectual property rights have been infringed, he or she has to file a request for destruction of the goods with the Customs Administration. If the representatives establish that the goods are not counterfeit, the Customs releases the goods. It often happens that a representative informs that he has no interest in taking action. In such event, the Customs Administration must release the goods on the market, despite the suspicions that the goods are counterfeit,” Kargov explained.

Kargov added that the representatives often decide not to take action if the quantity of the goods is small, since, in addition to administration fees, the representatives have to pay for the transport and storage of counterfeits. Some representatives also find that the deadline of 20 days within which they have to establish whether the goods are counterfeit is too short.

For more information, please contact Aleksandra Pavlovic at our Macedonia office.

Source: Macedonian Customs