Customs puts its foot down on fake Olympic sneakers

By Chen Qian  |   2008-7-1  |     ONLINE EDITION

SHANGHAI Customs has seized 4,800 pairs of sneakers with Beijing Games logos, the biggest case of Olympic counterfeits this year in the city, Wenhui Daily reported today.

The sneakers were to be exported to Ecuador by a Shandong-based company on June 17. Customs officials found during a routine check that every pair of shoes was marked with Beijing 2008, the report said.

Officials were alert enough to inform the Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games (BOCOG). After the committee said all the sneakers were fakes, customs officials seized the goods, according to the report.

"Shanghai Customs has discovered 14 cases involving a total of 33,000 items that illegally used Olympic symbols and logos since the Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols was issued in 2002," said Chen Xudong, vice commissioner of Shanghai Customs, according to Wenhui Daily.

The most commonly seized products have been shoes, bicycles and suits, the report said.

Just 10 days before the sneaker case, Shanghai Customs seized 1,440 gate locks that were to be exported to Chile. All the locks were illegally using the five rings symbol of the Olympics, said the report.