Counterfeit designer goods seized by Customs
A Corozal importer is in hot water tonight after an official investigation revealed that her products were knock-offs. According to the Customs and Excise Department, on March twenty-first and again on April second, enforcement officers examined a total of four containers bound for the Corozal Free Zone. But when the officials tried to confirm the quality of the declared items, they found a large quantity of counterfeit Chanel products. The assortment of merchandise, which includes handbags, watches, shoes and clothing, have been valued at fifty-nine thousand Belize dollars. The importer now under review is Thea Garcia of the CFZ business, NarSan. The goods were seized and are in care of Customs but today officials of the department’s investigation unit told us they do not intend to file criminal charges against Garcia as the case is being treated as a civil matter. According to Chanel’s Belizean attorney Rishi Mungal, the company is determined to keep counterfeit goods off the market.
Rishi Mungal, Attorney, Chanel Limited
“The Chanel bags go for a thousand U.S. minimum go up. These brands, Chanel in particular, it’s existed close to a hundred years now and a lot of investment is taken on their part to protect their trademarks. So when the trademarks are infringed. It hurts them directly. It also cheapens Belize as a jurisdiction because then Belize is seen as a place that allows these counterfeits to come in. Quality, quality is always the most immediate way you could tell and of course price. If something is sold for a thousand U.S. or a thousand Euros and you’re getting it for a hundred U.S. that’s an immediate tell that something is not quite correct. The Freezones, as their name suggests, they are a bit freer. It’s not so much international travellers sometimes as just someone on a border zone as in this case, the Mexicans. So it’s a good place to sell items that would normally be sold in duty free places”
Janelle Chanona
“Rishi, what happens to the goods that have been confiscated and how do you go about negotiating to settle this? I know it has become a civil matter so what’s the next step in all of this? ”
Rishi Mungal
“We are trying to work it out with the importer of the goods and the present status of this matter is that the goods are detained pending resolution of the matter. However, if it results in a civil suit, that’s another matter entirely.”
Garcia is being represented by the law firm of Shoman and Chebat in its negotiations with Chanel Limited. While other clothing seized in similar operations were distributed to the inmates of the Hattieville Prison, there is hardly a need for a purse in jail so it is most likely that the confiscated counterfeit Chanel will be destroyed by fire.
