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PS10350-PS10351-PS10352-PS10353-PS10354-PS10355 - The ICA blocked access to 174 websites selling counterfeit products


PRESS RELEASE


PRESS RELEASE

 

THE ICA BLOCKED ACCESS TO 174 WEBSITES SELLING COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTS

The ICA carried out a new intervention aimed at protecting consumers who purchase counterfeited products of famous brands on the web, believing that they are original. Through 6 different proceedings, the ICA ordered 6 traders - all located outside the European Union - to suspend within two days all activities aimed at selling on the Internet the mentioned articles. The parties involved did not comply with the Authority’s orders, therefore the ICA blocked access to 174 websites from the Italian territory, with the collaboration of the Special Unit of the Guardia di Finanza.

Following the complaints filed by Adoc and Indicam (body of Centromarca that fights against counterfeiting), the ICA ascertained that the operators passed off various types of products as original, among which:

  • famous brand sunglasses, often dangerous and with several characteristics not corresponding with the actual characteristics of the original products, such as security standards for filtering UV rays and the quality of the lens;
  • shoes and trainers branded Nike, Timberland, Gucci, Fendi, Michael Kors, for children too, whose samples imported from China showed the presence of alarming percentages of a cancer-causing substance (hexavalent chrome);
  • clothing items of famous brands for which highly health damaging chemicals were used for dyeing, also capable of altering men’s hormonal system;
  • costume jewellery and high fashion watches (Tiffany, Gucci, Fendi, Michael Kors) presented as made of silver while actually made of a copper/zinc alloy convered by nickel, a mixture that can cause allergies and burns.

Consumers were misled by the structure of the sites which mimicked the original ones with logos and images, pretending to be authorized sellers of the brands and products advertised, and offering big discounts from official prices. At the same time, the mentioned websites did not provide consumers with any information about their rights on guarantees and withdrawal.

Rome, 17 March 2016