Prague, Czech Republic - April 11 2008

Case report:
On 4 April 2008 thousands of goods were seized during raid in Prague, Czech Republic. The long prepared action on the Prague biggest market place wa operated by over 250 officers.  The market place was controlled for 2 day including the storage areas.

Luxembourg, Europe - April 22 2008

Case report:
Positive development: The Advocate General Colomer filed an Opinion about EC Regulation 1383/2003 (Reg.) which is favorable to right holders, on 8 April 2008.

According to the Advocate General´s advice to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), rights holders are entitled to rely on information provided by Customs under Reg. (which is only applicable on suspicions of counterfeit) to fight illicit parallel imports.
In this case, Belgium Customs had taken action ex officio and suspended the release of a shipment of pharmaceuticals, which they suspected of being counterfeits. The right-holder Beecham was allowed to investigate samples in order to identify whether or not the goods were fake. Beecham came to the conclusion that the goods were genuine, but had originally been placed on the market in Ethiopia to be distributed further down the chain to the Ethiopian army.
The Reg. could therefore no longer be applied, because Article 3 paragraph 1 Reg. stipulates that the Reg. shall not apply to goods bearing a trademark with the consent of the trademark holder.
Beecham started court proceedings in order to obtain amongst others a civil seizure order. The parallel importer opposes the claims as its was of the opinion that the information obtained from Belgium Customs was used for other purposes than allowed by the Reg.
These proceedings resulted in 4 questions referred to the ECJ by the Belgium Court: 2 questions concerned the legitimacy of the measures of the Belgium Customs authorities and 2 questions concerned the use of information, obtained on the basis of the Reg. and used against parallel imports. Below I will only draw attention to the last questions. For the advice of Colomer on the first and second question I refer to his opinion, which can be found on http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=en (case number C-132/07).
The parallel importer had argued that Beecham should not have been allowed to use the information which it had been able to obtain from the samples presented to Beecham by Customs under Regulation 1383/2003, as evidence in infringement proceedings relating to parallel imports. The parallel importer bases its argument on Article 12 of the Reg. This article stipulates that the "article 9 paragraph 2 and 3 Reg.- information" shall only be used for the purposes specified by the Reg., which means combating counterfeit (and not opposing parallel imports).
Advocate General Colomer disagrees. In his view, the Reg. cannot be interpreted as prohibiting the use by rights owners of information provided to them under the Reg. (i.e. Articles 9(2) and 9(3) of the Reg.), for the purpose of opposing parallel imports.
Now we have to hope that the ECJ will follow this advice of Colomer, which is often the case. We learn this hopefully in the near future.
******

Algeciras, Spain - March 14 2008

Case report:
Spain: Algeciras Customs

The Spanish Tax Agency, in collaboration with Guardia Civil of Algeciras Customs, has seized more than 230.000 counterfeit goods. Algeciras Customs has confiscated six containers arriving from Yantián (China) and destined to Marocco. The value of the seized products is estimated by Tax Agency Experts in 100 million Euro. According to the information released by Spanish Tax Agency, the involved brands are Adidas, Asics, Reebok, Guess, Puma, Nike, Convers, D.G., Levis, Lacoste, Guess, Versace, Gucci, Chanel, Tous, Chloé, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tous, Converse, Navigare, Daniel Smith, Calvin Klein, Polo, Boss, Delberto, Quick Silver, Boccodo, Paul & Shark, Rado, Tissot, Armani, Marlboro, Gulso Shark, G-Star and  Paul Shark.

Right owners have been notified in accordance with Council Regulation (EC ) 1383/2003. SNB REACT has informed the members for which we are managing customs applications for Spain.

, The Netherlands -

Case report:
29-02-3008
The Dutch authorities seized over 25.000 bottles of various fragrances. The investigation is still ingoing and more seizures can be expected.

Rozvadov -Sv.Katerina, Czech Republic - February 13 2008

Case report:
21-02-2008

On 13 February 2008 thousands of goods were seized during raid in Czech Republic. Local customs, Trade inspection in cooperation with SNB-REACT took action at German border markets runned mainly by Vietnamese citizens. The market contains of 200 stands mostly full of counterfeits. The first day was opened and controlled the first 35 stands. The Customs will be present for approximately  one month controlling the rest of stands and sale in the whole market place.

Rimini, Italy - December 17 2007

Case report:
Following investigations conducted by the Guardia di Finanza of Savona, after  a seizure with a retailer in Savona on 5 November and a seizure in Milan the 29th of November, the GdF carried out another seizure on 7, 10 and 11 December in Rimini.

The GdF, assisted by our investigator, seized about 79.000 products like t-shirts, shorts, wallets, scarves, stickers, pins, key rings, patches and flags bearing different trademarks.

All these products were produced directly by company and stocked in two different warehouses; moreover one of the warehouse wasn't officially registered.

Podgorica- Montenegro, Macedonia -

Case report:

On 16.06.2007 the Custom officers in Bar, Montenegro made a seizure of 14304 sneakers with the trademark Puma, coming from China. The Customs suspected the goods were counterfeit and informed Puma of this seizure. Puma informed SNB REACT BALKAN of this seizure, and with this we succesfully expended our services on the BALKAN region. The counterfeit nature of these goods was confirmed, and the approval for destruction based on silent confirmation, was given by the Custom Authorities in Montenegro.
The destruction should take place in the near future.

Frydek Mistek, Czech Republic - December 12 2007

Case report:
12-12-2007

Snb-React Czech Republic was informed by Customs about an unusual seizure of 152  chairs and 38 tables.  On the packaging the word mark VERSACE was mentioned. The items itself did not bear infringing markings. The member confirmed that the goods are counterfeit. We are following-up this notification.

Lisboa, Portugal - February 26 2007

Case report:
Following 2006 operation in Ante Comercio Internacional warehouse performed by Brigada Fiscal where almost 150.000 perfumes were seized, again this year, this company which was under surveillance, was targetet and a second successful raid was performed and almost 15.000 perfumes were confiscated.

Lisbon, Portugal - December 04 2007

Case report:
Following 2006 operation in Ante Comercio Internacional warehouse performed by Brigada Fiscal where almost 100.000 perfumes were seized, again this year, this company under surveillance, was targetet and a second successful raid was performed and almost 15.000 perfumes were confiscated.

Porto, Portugal - December 04 2007

Case report:
Successful shoe factory raid performed by ASAE Porto. More than 10.000 pair of Lacoste shoes and accessories were seized in this company "Calçado Renascimento".

Gevgeljia, Macedonia -

Case report:
Important Court decision in Macedonia following a customs seizure.
The customs in Bogorodica made a seizure of 1.280 sneakers bearing Puma TM's on 13.02.07.
The consignee opposed to the destruction and the case was taken to court.

On 30.11.2007 the court ruled in favor of PUMA. he TM's of Puma (leaping cat and form strip) were printed on the shoes, using a different name,
In appearance the shoes as such were not close to an "original" Puma sneaker, nevertheless the trade marks were and the Court considered this as an infringement of Puma's rights.

The sneakers need to be destroyed by Atlanta dooel, and they have been forbidden in the future to import any goods bearing the identical or similar TM's of Puma,
They also need to publish the court deciscion in papers.
The costs for this case should be payed by Atlanta, the Court will specify the amount. 

Milan, Italy - November 28 2007

Case report:
Following the investigation conducted by the Guardia di Finanza of Savona, after  a seizure in a retailer in Savona on 5 November, the GdF carried out a big operation in Milano, on the premises of the wholesales company. The GdF, assisted by our investigator, seized 26768 products like scarves, stickers, pins, key rings, patches and flags bearing different trademarks.
The GdF retrieved also the invoices of the distributors.

Madrid, Spain - November 27 2007

Case report:
Half a million pieces of counterfeit products confiscated and 23 persons detained.
AThe community police as well as the Guardia Civil of Madrid disclosed a pyramide criminal organisation occupied in the production and sales of counterfeit goods. The machinery found was impressive: sufficient to produce 21000 counterfeit products per hour. The value of the 0,5 million products found was estimaed at 15 million Euro.
The operation was called ' Operacion Glamour'.
De detained persons are from Senegal, Marroco, China, Bangladesh and Spain.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - November 27 2007

Case report:
SNB-REACT team has been extended with two new brand protection managers:

FOR CZECH REPUBLIC-SLOVAKIA: Mrs Marketa Shubik, mshubik@snbreact.org
Marketa is trademark attorney and based in Prague.

FOR SPAIN; Mrs Nuria Abella Mendez, nabella@snbreact.org
Nuria is an exoerienced IP lawyer and based in Madrid.

SNB-REACT has now almost accomplished its pan European coverage. Either through internal resources (own employed SNB-REACT personell) or through external partners with whom we have agreed a partnership with favourable terms for SNB-REACT members.

Rotterdam, The Netherlands - November 21 2007

Case report:
The FIOD-ECD has seized the products on two locations in Rotterdam The Netherlands and notified SNB-REACT.
The seizure exceeds more than 45.000 pieces. SNB-REACT will file a criminal complaint on behalf of its members. The defendant is linked to Turkish networks who import and distribute counterfeit goods on a very large scale in The Netherlands. The investigation against this network is still ongoing.

In 2006 we have increased the number of removed ads by 144% thanks to:
- Portugal joining us in the program
- removing ads from eBay worldwide
- our increased expertise

For 2007 our goal is to continue this rising number of removals by:
- creating an Internet Monitoring tool
- expanding the Internet Monitoring Program to Asia

[17 january 2007]

The annual assembly of SNB-REACT will be held in the afternoon on 15th of March 2007 in Amsterdam. Followed by a product identification training session for the Dutch customs and Economic Police on 16th of March.
[7 December 2006]

Important provisional decision about simplified procedure and demurrage costs

On 22 August 2006 the summary judge of the Rotterdam District Court has rendered a decision in a case that was initiated by 15 SNB-REACT members against shipping agent China Shipping (LJN: AY6661, 264805/KG ZA 06-591).

Background
In this case the Dutch customs have under EC Regulation 1383/2003 suspended release or detained 56.000 counterfeit goods from various shipments, in the period of May 2005 and April 2006. The right holders concerned have obtained written or presumed agreement to abandon the goods for destruction, in accordance with the simplified procedure of article 11 EC Regulation 1383/2003. The right holders requested China Shipping to surrender the goods for destruction. China Shipping refused to release the goods as long as the demurrage costs had not been compensated. As the right holders are not liable for these costs, the right holders started summary proceedings asking the summary judge to order China Shipping to surrender the goods. China Shipping filed a counter claim asking for compensation of its demurrage costs. 

Decision
The claims of the right holders and China Shipping were both rejected. However, the summary judged gave a positive opinion for the right holders about the demurrage costs issue. He confirmed explicitly that the right holders are not liable for these costs. Although the summary judged did not feel he had to rule on this point; he noted that the demurrage costs should eventually have to be paid by the assignor of China Shipping. It is therefore self evident that shipping agent approaches the consignee and/or the assignor for those costs instead of the right holders. The Regulation 1383/2003 articles 11 jo 6 does not leave the room, according to the provisional consideration of the judge, to grant the transporters a claim for demurrage costs.

Furthermore, the summary judge ruled that those goods which are not covered by a clear trademark registration (for example camera bags bear TM of aides; shirts bearing GM trademarks etc...) are not covered by the Regulation 1383/2003 and cannot be considered to be surrendered for destruction in the framework of the Regulation. China Shipping was entitled to oppose against it in order to safeguard the interests of its clients. This is a consequence of the wording of articles 1 job 2 par 1 sub a of the Regulation

Article 11 of the Regulation can be applied directly according to the summary judge and does not require specific national legislation. The claim of SNB-REACT to surrender the other goods for destruction which are covered by the definition mentioned above has been rejected. The matter proved to be too complicated for a provisional judgment. The judge concluded wrongly that the conditions of article 11 were not met, and therefore rejected the claim for release of the goods. Parties have not lodged an appeal and have settled the matter in the meanwhile.

[16 October 2006]

The new service launched by React Italy in January is proving to be very successful both in terms of interest from the member companies and in terms of results.

We started off with a few hearings in January and have now reached an average of 15 hearings per month, involving quite a number of member companies.

In a good percentage of cases the judges accept the substitution of the person who was originally summoned with our experts, therefore relieving companies of the burden of having to send their employees instead.

Our expertise team consists of 4 people who cover different Italian Regions and are therefore able to avoid extensive travelling which means cutting costs for the companies. One of them is a lawyer and handles the more complex cases, whilst the more straightforward ones are divided among the other three free lance experts. Where possible, the fees are also shared among companies in order to further reduce expenses.

[31 May 2006]

In the past weeks tens of thousands of textiles products were seized in the Netherlands. Local police forces of Nijmegen and Amersfoort assisted SNB-REACT greatly by taking action against Turkish importers. The importation from fake goods produced in Turkey by Turkish immigrants in The Netherlands is a trend which is ongoing for years now. Particularly the Fashion industry is suffering from this. SNB-REACT filed criminal complaints and civil action for damages will be initiated.

After 2,5 years Paolo Balistrieri left SNB-REACT to become Brand Protection Manager Italy with Louis Vuitton. Paolo will be replaced by Fabrizio Cacciatore from the 1st of June onwards. Fabrizio already worked for REACT on a free lance basis. He will concentrate on the operational work of REACT: inspections, investigations, witness hearing and alike.

[29 May 2006]

REACT Italy has set up a team of brand identification experts spread throughout the country. The experts are trained by the brand representatives and kept updated though an internal protected brand identification site. REACT Italy has set up this service for its members to enable them to follow up in Court the numerous notifications initiated by the Guardia di Finanza, Customs authorities, Carabinieri and all other law enforcement officers. In Court the experts can assist one or more brands owners at the same time and provide witness statements.

With this team of experts, REACT responds to a need for companies to keep up with the high number of requests from enforcement officers as well as the judiciary. The costs of sending in house experts (or attorneys) to provide witness statements can be enormous. By bundling these efforts, REACT manages first of all to reduce costs for brands owners more than significantly; secondly it provides the opportunity for brands owners to follow up the demands of the officials in a consistent manner, and thirdly, the officers and judiciary can be supported more swiftly. The costs savings are realized because of the following reasons:

- the not for profit nature of REACT Italy
- reduction of travel expenses because the experts are located throughout the country
- by representing more companies in a single case, the fees for the experts are shared.

Members interested in this cost efficient service, please contact info@snbreact.org or glaviani@snbreact.org, or 00-39-02-8050.9450

[27 January 2006]

In a procedure launched by SNB-REACT on behalf of Polo Ralph Lauren and Timberland against Bakkersport (a former Intersport retailer), the District Court of The Haque rendered a most favourable judgment. One of the owners of Bakkersport, had signed a ce ase and desist letter in 2000 to settle a case. The cease and desist letter covered all members of SNB-REACT. A few years after, Bakkersport again infringed rights of (other) members of SNB-REACT: Polo by Ralph Lauren and Timberland. Bakkersport claimed  that the cease and desist letter was not valid (next to the fact that they contested the infringement entirely) because of the fact that it was not signed on behalf of the infringing retail company but by a natural person (by chance the owner and direc tor of the company!). The Court considered otherwise, in our favour and did apply the penalties incurred through the cease and desist letter. This decision is most supportive to the SNB-REACT strategy to obtain many generally formu  lated cease and desist letters from potential counterfeit traders.

[7 November 2005]

Since a few months, the simplified procedure to follow up a customs detention, is being applied in Portugal as well. SNB-REACT has already applied this procedure, whereby the importer or declarant surrenders the goods voluntarily for destruction, at num eours occassions. In almost all cases the procedure went smoothly without significant opposition. Other EU countries like Italy and Poland which are not yet applying the simplified procedure of article 11 EU Regulation 1383/2003 have also indicated to s eriously consider to introduce the procedure shortly. This will be a great efficiency improvement for the anti counterfeiting fight.[7 November 2005]

The Rotterdam customs have stopped 60 containers completely loaded with counterfeited sports wear. Many brands are concerned. The goods originate from an unkown exporter in China and are destined for an unknown trader in Russia. SNB-REACT has taken up t he matter. In order to get the confiscation and destruction of the goods, the simplified procedure will be followed. To trace the actual source and destination, a criminal complaint was filed. The Dutch authorities could however not find enough informat ion to start actions against Dutch criminals, that is why the matter has been referred back for civil follow up.
[10 September 2005]

The internet programme managed by Liselotte Bakker (the Netherlands) and
Maddalena Bassi (Italy). Currently, 20 of our members are participating in the
programme. We have removed 4143 advertisements; 5 commercial sites; and 71
criminal and civil cases were initiated against commercial sites.
Members seem to be pleased with this new service which has become an unevitable
tool in the anti counterfeiting fight for SNB-REACT in a short time period.

[10 August 2005]

Hungarian Customs, in cooperation with our partner organization VSZA, carried out an  outstanding seizure in three shops selling counterfeit jewels bearing various brands, among them Bulgari and Gucci.
The operation took place in the tourist area of Lake Balaton, in the towns of  Zalaegerszeg, Keszthely and Hévíz.
Some hundreds items, including bracelets, sleeve-links, rings and earrings were confiscated.
Particular praise goes to Hungarian Customs, who are among the most active ones in Central Europe and among the only ones undertaking operations outside their border areas (actions are intitiated by them and then carried out in cooperation with Police).
[21 June 2005]

At the external European borders many consignments of Chinese exporters are being stopped by EU customs. Resulting the actions by European customs, very often solid information about the Chinese exporter becomes avaialable to the rights owner. SNB-REACT now wants to alert the right Chinese customs officer in the most direct way of the Chinese exporter sending consignments of fake goods to Europe. This in order to enable Chinese customs to intercept the exports before departure! That is why we entered into a partnership with a Chinese consultancy called Sunfaith.

The service is  simple: SNB-REACT prepares a file with all information available regarding intercepted consignments of importation:
- official statements from the customs authorities with the name of the consignor and consignee
- short description of the legal actions followed
- quantities and type of products concerned
- digital images of the products
Charge of SNB-REACT to the rights owner concerned: € 150

Such a file will be transferred to the Chinese partner of SNB-REACT; Sunfaith. Sunfaith is a private consultancy with branches all over China.
Sunfaith will transfer the file with accompanying explanation in Chinese when needed to the responsible customs officer of the port of exportation (or any other port which might be chosen by the identified exporter).
Charge of Sunfaith to the rights owner concerned: € 150

In this way solid evidence is being submitted at low costs to exact;y the rights officer.

Many rights owners have their own network and structure to use the information gathered in Europe and inform the relevant customs officers themselves. However, just as many rights owner lack such a structure and at the end of the day, most of the European cases are not being followed up.
[10 June 2005]

SNB-React Netherlands has recently launched the number 0900-NEPPERS (0900-6377377). This number has been brought into existence for
                reporting counterfeit sales.

SNB-React noticed a need for an accessible portal for reporting counterfeit goods. Therefore we created a 0900 number with the catching name 'NEPPERS' (a popular Dutch word for counterfeit goods). We decided to charge 50 eurocents a minute. This to avoid unserious messages/reportings.

A reporting will be handled by a standard procedure. In general we can say that reporter has to give answer to the who, when, where and what questions. On the basis of these data we will start an investigation.
The number can be reached anytime.
[10 June 2005]

During an inspection by the Lithaunian Police squad large quantities of counterfeit goods were seized. Not all the goods have been inspected yet, but so far they seized 194 trousers and 30 suits NIKE,
429 trousers PUMA, 5 trousers REEBOK, 16 suits ADIDAS and 908 watches ROLEX.  These goods are coming from China and destined for Vilnius. The goods were stopped, because the owner failed to declare the goods to customs. So besides counterfeiting the authorities will also prosecute the defendant for smuggling. This case is considered important because it is the first police action in Lithuania! Main reason for SNB-REACT to start in Lithuania is to increase police activities which seems to work. [13 May 2005]

Latvia clearly take the problem of counterfeiting seriously. They have decided to install a new specialised police unit to fight counterfeiting and piracy. The budget they created leaves room for 20 new officers!, which can be considered a lot for such a small country. The officers are now being recruited; first results are expected in June of this year. We expect that our anti counterfeiting efforts in Latvia will be significantly improved with the new colleagues.

Following the EU Enforcement Directive, the Benelux Trademark Act will be changed. The enforcement remedies will be improved according to the provisions of the EU enforcement directive. A very important improvement will be the conditions put on claims to recover profits made by infringers.
In the current law, the damaged rights owner must prove bad faith of the infringer before the profits made can be recovered. SNB-REACT was fiercely against this provision and, supported by the text of the enforcement directive, we managed to convince the Ministries of Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg.

In the revised Benelux Trademark Act, the bad faith notion does not reappear. The new condition for such claims to be granted is that the infringer knew or should have known. Obviously much easier to prove.
The new law will enter into force April 2006.

The SNB-REACT members were sent a proposal for monitoring The Internet on trade in counterfeit goods.
SNB-REACT concentrates on the national auction sites by periodical checks as well as the commercial sites which we will come across during our Internet searches.
Countries covered: the countries in which SNB-REACT has facilities to monitor the Internet: The Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Baltic States. When the operation is running smoothly, we might extend the services to other European countries. [5 April 2005]

March 2005, SNB-REACT started its activities in Lithuania. The objective is
- to follow up customs actions, assist them with all practical issues related to the bordermeasures, and;
- we want to initate police actions. So far police actions against the flourishing trade in counterfeited goods in Lithuania are non-existant!
Customs enforcement in Lithuania is pretty simple; the simplified procedure in the EU Regulation of article 11 is being applied. This means that through quick settlements cases can be resolved easily.

The police actions have to come off the ground. Police has agreed to cooperate with the initiative taken by SNB-REACT.[1 March 2005]

In the annual Assembly of 28 January 2005 the following decisions were made
- provisional approval of the annual account 2004. Alllocation of the likely profits ( since 2004 has only just ended, some minor changes are likely) of about € 16.000 to the assets.
- The fees 2005 were approved (to be found elsewhere on this site)
- Budget 2005 was approved
The members agreed with the gradual expansion process.
SNB-REACT will draft a proposal for a new service: Internet monitoring
The board will be extended. [28 January 2005]

In 2004 much more seizures were made by SNB-REACT : 1570 compared to 1100 in 2003!. Main reasons are the geographical extension and the increased efficiency of the network. The number of products decreased! It must be said that the 2003 figures were flattered because of the enormous large number of toys which came in during a limited period. This caused absolute records in seizure figures.
Financially, SNB-REACT managed well within its budget. Costs were kept reasonably under control; due to the increase in cases the income grew accordingly. In this way, SNB-REACT managed again to keep the fees at the same level. [3 January 2005]

Brigada Fiscal one of most active police forces in Europe on IPR
The SNB-REACT activities in Portugal are very succesful! Since the start – February 2004 – 100 actions and more than 300.000 products seized.
The Brigada Fiscal can be considered one of the most active police forces on anti counterfeiting. This week again they seized more than 10.000 products  Together with our REACT representative, Paulo Pereira, they are investigating warehouses, productions units and taking rapid action. [23 August 2004]

  

This summer we noticed that the handbags of Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Chanel and Christian Dior Couture are popular in the counterfeiting business. Large quantities were intercepted at many occassions. One of them was an interception at Rotterdam seaport on 20 July. A container coming from China, via Rotterdam with destination Belgium was loaded with 40.000 products. [1 August 2004]

The new anti counterfeiting EU regulation entered into force the 1st of July. One of the most important new elements is the simplified procedure in article 11. According to this provision, Member States may simplify the procedure following a customs intervention in two ways. First if the rights owner, applicant, submits a written undertaking of the declarant, holder or owner of the goods to abandon the products for destruction. Secondly, when the delcalrant, holder or owner of the goods has not specifically opposed against destruction, the agreement is presumed to be accepted!. The first option was in fact standard practice in The Netherlands and Scandinavian countries already for a long time. The second option is new and SNB-REACT has experienced its first cases. Again an important step to facilitate rights owners, customs and in fact also other parties involved in the anti counterfeiting operation. [29 July 2004]

As a result of the members questionnaire, expansion of SNB-REACT service to Poland, Spain and Serbia – Montenegro will be explored
A questionnaire of SNB-REACT among its members resulted in 30 replies indicating a clear signal: the members want SNB-REACT to expand its services to other European countries. The low costs for standard type of actions;  rapid follow up and concise reporting as well as the support we provide to enforcement agencies, is apparently somehting which is appreciated by our members. The responses learned that many companies want us to set up an operation in Poland. Furthermore, it was surprising to see that Spain is a country where many companies lack a good enforcement structure. Another country which was top on the list is Serbia-Montenegro. The secretariat has started exploring the possibilities in these three countries. We would be more than happy to learn from our members any good experiences with certain service providers. [7 July 2004]

Malta has registered its biggest seizure of cigarettes of all times: three forty footers fully loaded containers containing 9,333,000 'Marlboro'Red cigarettes and 18,020,000 'Gauloises' Blondes, in transit from Malta to Algiers. Click here to see the photos [7 April 2004]

 

The annual assembly of SNB-REACT will be held the 5th of March in
Amsterdam. It will be combined with a training session for the Dutch customs and Economic Police. [5 March 2004]

The new operation from SNB-REACT with CIPR has performed its first actions. With a distributor of airfresheners for cars, significant quantities of airfresheners bearing the brandnames Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, Opel, Volkswagen and Harley Davidson were found and seized. Click here to see the photos. Other actions involving fake sunglasses, stationery and garments are pending. [21 January 2004]