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Operation seized 17 tons of counterfeit goods and closed 80 stores in Brás, SP downtown.

São Paulo City Hall estimates that it has already seized about 1,667 tons of counterfeit products in 2019; 70% are clothes and footwear.

An operation carried out by the Civil Police and São Paulo City Hall seized aroud 17 tons of counterfeit products in Brás this Thursday. The City Hall estimates that around 1,667 tons of illegal products has already been seized this year; among this number, 70% are clothes and footwear.

The raid closed around 80 boxes at Largo da Concórdia and seized 70 thousand items. The National Front Against Piracy estimates that only last year Brazil has stopped earning $ 193 billion from the production and sale of counterfeit items. For City Hall Executive Secretary Fabio Lepique, the concern is to fight unfair competition. “Create a climate of order and respect for the law, respect for the right working people, eradicating whenever possible this unfair competition represented by piracy and the sale of these counterfeit goods,” he said. Since December 2018, the City Hall with the support of Deic (State Department of Criminal Investigations) and the Federal Revenue has supervised and closed 22 locations, including shops, galleries, malls and warehouses.

Fight against Counterfeiting

About 100 people, including police officers from the Deic, City Hall officials and Metropolitan Civil Guards, participated in the operation on Thursday.

The work focused on four galleries in Largo da Concórdia, one of the capital’s main popular trade regions. The teams toured about 80 boxes and found counterfeit clothes, caps, sneakers and watches. According to the City Hall, products being sold locally go to other states and even to Latin American countries.

During the operation, stores selling pirated products were closed. Owners or responsibles were taken to the police for testimony.

The agents sorted by category and put 70,000 counterfeit items in plastic bags. All material will be in the custody of law firms representing the original brands in deposits in the capital. Delegate Wagner Carrasco says the purpose of the operation is to reduce the sales of counterfeit goods.

“And thus consequently end up helping the population to buy a better product, a product that is not harmful to health, as well as the correct payment related to the state tribute,” he says.

Source: https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/2019/08/01/operacao-apreende-17-toneladas-de-produtos-falsificados-e-fecha-80-boxes-no-bras-em-sp.ghtml