Counterfeit consumer goods could present health and safety risks

Friday, January 12th 2007, 5:55 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Counterfeiting of consumer goods has gone beyond the fake Prada purse or the phony Nike sneakers and now includes fake batteries, light bulbs and extension cords.

"Fake prescription drugs, fake glucose testing strips for diabetics, dangerous and defective auto parts and brakes, electrical products that are hazardous and can burn your house down, batteries, contaminated shampoo and razor blades," said Caroline Joiner of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative.

"Every product and every industry is vulnerable," she said Thursday.

In 2006, U.S. agents increased their seizures of counterfeit goods by 83 percent, making more than 14,000 seizures worth at least $155 million.

The figures were released by the Homeland Security Department, where two agencies are involved in stopping the phony goods at U.S. borders, and investigating and prosecuting those responsible for producing them.

China was the source of 81 percent of all phony goods seized in 2006, according to figures from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Forty-one percent of the bogus items confiscated last year were shoes _ the largest category of fakes.

"There was an explosive growth in footwear last year," said Therese Randazzo, director of risk management for Customs and Border Protection, adding that counterfeiters change their products often.

"We focus on one thing for a while and then the bad guys move on," she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Randazzo also described some of the new tools that inspectors are using to catch counterfeiters, including what she called "risk modeling" _ a statistical analysis of past seizures to reveal the most common characteristics of fake goods.

They are also using import data to devote more scrutiny to countries that harbor counterfeiters and companies caught shipping fakes in the past.

Cargo containers targeted by such tools can then be opened and physically examined.

Randazzo said her office works with business organizations and targeted companies, like Nike, so that her officers will know a fake when they see it.

"They'll say, 'this is what a genuine Nike shoe looks like,' so when we're looking at a fake, we know why it's a fake."

Some of last year's cases included:

_The seizure by agents in Arizona, Texas and California of 77 containers of fake Nike Air Jordan athletic shoes and one container of phony Abercrombie & Fitch clothing, with a total value of about $69.5 million.

_Officers in Miami opened a suspicious container that had traveled from China through Belize. They discovered over $1 million worth of fake Nike, Reebok, Puma, Umbrok Adidas and Tommy Hilfiger sports clothing, along with counterfeit Prada, Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, Versace and Hugo Boss designer goods.

_Agents in Puerto Rico seized products with fake Underwriters Laboratories (UL) labels worth more than $345,000, and 13,000 bogus light bulbs worth $45,000.

The department said that the spread of new technology has allowed simple and low-cost duplication of copyrighted or trademarked goods. There has also been a rise in organized crime groups involved in smuggling the goods, often using the proceeds to bankroll other illegal activities, including trafficking in drugs or guns.