Nearly 80,000 fake vodka bottles set to be destroyed

SINGAPORE — Over 77,850 empty counterfeit vodka bottles, 18 boxes of bottle caps and 10 boxes of labels were handed over to brand owner for destruction following an order issued by the court, the Singapore Customs said today (Jan 7).

The counterfeit items that were consigned to a company in Singapore, were detained after Singapore Customs officers inspected the containers in Keppel Distripark on June 6 last year.

Declared as “general cargoes”, the counterfeits bearing the name of a vodka brand were shipped from a neighbouring country to Singapore in 11 20-foot (6m) containers and were intended to be shipped to another country.

The items, suspected to be used for illegal bottling activities and sale outside Singapore, were immediately detained.

The brand owner subsequently applied successfully to the court for the detained items to be forfeited to it for destruction. Singapore Customs handed over the trade mark infringing items to the legal representative of the brand owner on Dec 26.

“Singapore Customs does not condone such illegal trading activities, especially when the goods involved may potentially pose health or safety risks.” said Mr Tok Choon Min, Acting Head of Operations Management Branch, Singapore Customs.

“We will work closely with brand owners to take appropriate action against offenders in accordance with the Trade Marks Act,” he added.