Counterfeiting bill passes Senate

The Senate passed Thursday a bill that imposes severe penalties on counterfeiters to deter the surge of counterfeit items in the Commonwealth and to protect its tourism industry.

The Senate passed on first and final reading Senate Bill 14-32 in response to the alarming increase in the CNMI of activities involving forgery and counterfeiting of private labels and possession of reproduced materials.

The bill now heads to Gov. Juan N. Babauta for approval.

The measure calls for stiffer penalties against individuals involved in counterfeiting activities depending on the value of the fake materials. Among others, the use of counterfeit material in commerce, trafficking of counterfeit goods, and sale of counterfeit material would be meted with corresponding penalties and imprisonment.

The bill, which was introduced by Sen. Paterno S. Hocog, passed the House of Representatives, where an identical bill introduced by Rep. Ray Yumul was also being considered.

According to Yumul, in 2003 alone, the U.S. Customs seized a total of $94 million of counterfeit goods in ports of entry in the United States. Of this total, products originating in China accounted for 66 percent of the total, amounting to $62.4 million.

Because of this, Yumul believes that these counterfeiting activities pose a challenge to the CNMI, which already has seen a proliferation of counterfeit goods on store shelves.

Records showed that in recent years, the Commonwealth received a great deal of negative publicity from the sale of counterfeit items. This year, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition inspected and identified five stores in the hotel district that were selling fake items.

The CNMI Customs also intercepted the shipment of counterfeit DVDs, CDs, and cassette tapes. The Stussy Incorporated filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against more than 15 stores in the CNMI for allegedly selling counterfeit clothing using its registered brand and trademark.

On April this year, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition conducted on-site inspections to determine the number of shops selling counterfeit items on Saipan.

Based on the inspection, five stores in the hotel district were found selling fake Chrome Hearts jewelry at low prices, according to Chrome Hearts Corp. lawyer Robert L. Tucker.

Tucker urged legislators and law enforcers to implement stricter monitoring and inspection of incoming cargoes, which are most likely to contain fake items from countries such as Korea and China, among others.

The lawyer said the IACC would provide necessary assistance to legislation and efforts to thwart counterfeiting activities on Saipan, which he claimed would affect the tourism industry in the long run.