The South African Revenue Services (Sars) on Monday said that the local clothing and textile industry had suffered tremendously as a result of the illegal import of counterfeit goods.
“A comparison between 2016 and 2017 shows what progress has been made in terms of busts: 65,185 items of counterfeit clothing valued at R 72,601,172 (in 2016) compared to 73,969 items valued at R 97,168,048 (in 2017); 65,174 items of counterfeit shoes (in 2016) compared to 74,480 items this year,” Sars said in a statement.
Sars said that most recently the industry had also borne the brunt of the import of second-hand clothing that becomes available for resale in the market.
Sars mentioned that on Sunday and Monday, customs officials at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) in Johannesburg, intercepted four consignments of suspected counterfeit goods with a combined protected value of R20.5 million.
These included 2600 Nike sneakers which came from Hong Kong, 7700 Nike sneakers and 100 Louis Vuitton bags, 2000 kids Nike sneakers and 470 Gucci ladies dresses and 1600 ladies Polo and Chanel branded shoes all from China.
“In another recent case, a 24-foot container filled with suspected counterfeit shoes, bags, wallets and other goods was detained by Sars customs officials at the City Deep depot in Gauteng on Friday 8 December 2017. The goods, with a protected value of R20.7-million, were declared as furniture.”
They said that this was one of 561 busts that Sars customs officials had carried out since a special “increased inspections” operation started at the City Deep depot in August this year.
“So far, 132 busts have related to clothing and textile infringements, with these busts bringing in over R10.5-million of revenue since August. The biggest bust took place in August when counterfeit branded goods estimated to be worth R23,000,000 were confiscated,” Sars said.
“Three weeks ago there was a bust of suspected counterfeit clothing and footwear, with a street value of about R1.2- million, at Kosi Bay. This border post, in particular, was targeted for being a hotspot of smuggling due to the lack of controls.”
Sars said that every day since the start of the special three-week operation at non-designated border posts, customs had detained suspected illicit or illegally smuggled goods.
“There have also been a number of meetings with the SA Clothing and Textiles Workers Union (SACTWU) this year to explore ways in which we can improve the fight against illegally imported clothing, textiles and footwear.”
Sars said that many factories had closed down in the past few years due to the proliferation of cheap legitimate imports, as well as the illegal importation of second-hand clothes and counterfeit clothes and shoes, particularly from Asia.
“We are trying to be as responsive as possible to the industry’s plight,” said Patrick Moeng, Executive: Customs Investigations.
“We are currently working on numerous clothing and textile cases worth millions of rands.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
