Olympic sneakers look good but illegal

By Chen Qian  |   2008-7-2  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

SHANGHAI Customs has seized 4,800 pairs of sneakers with Beijing Games logos, the biggest case of Olympic counterfeiting this year in the city.

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 "Beijing 2008."

Officials alerted the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of XXIX Olympiad who said the sneakers were fakes and Customs officials seized the goods.

"Shanghai Customs has discovered 14 cases involving 33,000 items that showed Olympic symbols and logos which has been illegal since the Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols were issued in 2002," said Chen Xudong, vice commissioner of Shanghai Customs.

The most commonly seized illegal products have been shoes, bicycles and suits.

Just 10 days earlier, Shanghai Customs seized 1,440 gate locks that were to be exported to Chile. All the locks were illegally displaying the five-ring symbol of the Olympics, Customs officials said.