Canada seizing few shipments of fake goods despite law targeting counterfeits

[steve from amherst]

The issue is a major irritant in Canada's trading relationship with the United States

 

New border controls meant to curb imports of counterfeit goods into Canada have had little impact, newly released figures suggest.

In the three years since the Combatting Counterfeit Products Act came into force, custom officers have detained just 48 shipments — an average of 16 each year.

Statistics obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act also show most of the suspect goods eventually were released when the cases failed to move forward.

The Canadian numbers compare poorly with the United States — which last year saw more than 34,000 seizures of alleged counterfeit goods — and with the European Union, where 63,000 shipments were seized in 2016,

The issue of counterfeit goods in Canada is a major irritant in the trading relationship with the United States, which as recently as January cited lax enforcement by its northern neighbor.

The White House issued a report on "notorious markets" around the world, citing in particular the Pacific Mall in Markham, Ont., which it described as "well-known … for the sale of counterfeit and pirate goods for over a decade."

"Vendors in Pacific Mall appear to operate largely with impunity," says the document from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which reports directly to U.S. President Donald Trump.

White House critical

The USTR office made a similar complaint last April 27, saying Canada "does not provide customs officials with the ability to detain, seize, and destroy pirated and counterfeit goods that are moving in transit or are transhipped through Canada."

The internal figures released to CBC News by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) cover the period from Jan. 1, 2015 – when the new border provisions came into effect – to Dec. 31, 2017, or three calendar years.

The statistics show that in at least 36 of the 48 cases, the suspect goods were released, sometimes because the trademark owners did not provide the necessary paperwork. Only eight shipments were destroyed. One shipment of sunglasses was released by the CBSA in error.

[anorkist]

if anyone reading that report does not know markham is our little fuxking peking.our lawmakers do not want to upset international relations assholes