Fake clothes now Aus-made
Brand protection managers at multi-national apparel labels Nike and Adidas say the commitment by the Australian Customs Service to stamp out the country's multi-million dollar fake clothing industry has forced an increasing number of counterfeit goods importers to manufacture locally to avoid detection.
Nike Pacific region security manager Richard Stanwix and Adidas national security and brand protection manager Sean Carroll estimate at least 50 per cent of all the fake apparel sold here is now made in Australia.
"What they are doing is bringing the clothing in blank so that it is doesn't raise susCarroll - who estimates the pair's respective brands are involved in "at least" 30 to 50 counterfeit clothing seizures each month - said while the six-figure sums each spends annually on addressing the issue is chicken-feed amid the broader context of their respective businesses, it is vital some effort is made to protect their branding as well as their individual retailers.
"Counterfeiting is often seen as a victimless crime, but I would challenge any consumer to speak with the retailers in their local market and tell them there are no victims. It's a logical leap of faith to suggest that if they are selling counterfeit goods they are doing so under the table therefore they are not paying taxes nor is it likely they are looking after the welfare of their staff. And if they have this ill-gotten money, how are they laundering it and who else is involved?"
The pair, members of a 14-strong coalition founded by private investigation firm Global Brand Protection (GBP) to protect their brands from counterfeiters, said the ignorance of some other big name apparel brands in refusing to join the consortium was hindering their ability to stamp out the practice.
"It amuses me that they don't see the logic of the intelligence sharing. Personally I think they're foolish because by not doing anything it's only encouraging these sorts of people to continue," Carroll said.
His comments came on the same day the pair joined with Bankstown police and GBP, headed by former NSW police officer John Rhodes, to conduct a raid on a Sefton-based factory. The raid, the ninth conducted by the PI firm this year, uncovered several thousand fake tracksuits, jackets and singlets from a raft of brands including Nike, Adidas, Diesel, Puma, Champion and Lonsdale.
Detective Sergeant Rodney Pistola, who is heading the investigation, said, if genuine, the value of the goods seized by his eight-strong team would be in excess of $1 million.
The factory, owned by a foreign national overseas at the time of the raid, had been under surveillance for more than a month and charges would more than likely be laid once intelligence checks had been completed, Detective Pistola said.