MANILA – Bureau of Customs (BOC) officers have seized some PHP2 billion worth of various counterfeit items in Parañaque City.
In a statement on Friday, the bureau said the goods were seized during an inspection of storage facilities by the Intelligence Group's Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD) – Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) in Baclaran on Thursday.
The items are composed of earphones, shoes, and bags bearing known registered trademarks such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Onitsuka Tiger, Vans, Adidas, Nike, JBL, Sony, and Jordan.
The team also discovered counterfeit personal care products such as Cetaphil, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Vaseline, Jergens, Dove, Nivea, Glutamax, Kojic, Joe Malone, Bulgari, D&G, Channel, Victoria’s Secret, Hugo Boss, and Clinique.
The haul is one of the bureau's biggest seizure of counterfeit goods this year.
The inspection was conducted through a letter of authority (LOA) and mission order (MO) signed by Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
The imported items were seized for the possible violation of Section 118 (f) of the Republic Act (RA) 10863 also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and RA 8293 also known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (IPCP).
The BOC added that fake perfumes, cosmetic and beauty products may contain toxic chemicals that could be harmful to health.
The team is under the Intelligence Group and Port of Manila District Office (POM-DO). (PNA)