Rs. 31 million worth counterfeit and pirated goods, which were imported illegally in violation of the Intellectual Property Act and Customs Ordinance, were destroyed at Sri Lanka Customs in Orugodawatta, yesterday.
About 130,000 goods including items such as toys, stationery, mobile phone accessories, pharmaceuticals and automobile parts were disposed of.
The destroyed goods were forfeited in late 2017 by the International Property Rights Dedicated Office of Sri Lanka Customs which intercepts imported goods.
Customs Director General P. S. M. Charles inspected the process of destroying the counterfeit and pirated goods along with the Additional Director General of Customs Lalith Weerasinghe and other high-rank officials.
The event was organized by the Consumer Protection Unit of Sri Lanka Customs together with the Policy Planning and Research Division as a part of the events to commemorate the International Customs Day 2018, under the theme, “A secure Business Environment for Economic Development.”
Customs Spokesman Deputy Director Sunil Jayaratne, addressing media, pointed out that toys and stationery that were destroyed contained carcinogen which causes cancer. He further pointed out that these toys and stationery were made with low-quality raw materials which cause harm to children’s health. Jayaratne also pointed out that mobile phone accessories which were a part of the destroyed goods were also low-quality items that cause accidents to consumers.
Jayaratne said Sri Lanka Customs requests the public to refrain from purchasing these low-quality items from the market for cheap prices.
Add new comment