Counterfeit washing powder???

[twinniefan]

An interesting story out of Sydney here, a 53 year old man and his 32 year old son are facing a possible 2 year gaol term and a fine of up to $55,000.00,for importing 185 tons of counterfeit Omo branded washing powder sold in many retail outlets in 9kg buckets.
They have been charged by the Australian Federal Police with breaches of the Commonwealth Trade Marks Act.
Interesting because I see so much of this stuff nearly everywhere I go to.
It is not just Omo either, I have even seen a few buckets of Tide in my travels.
Is this type of stuff common in the U.S.A and Europe as well and indeed would it be in violation of any of your laws?,I would be curious to know.
Cheers people.
Steve.

 

[toggleswitch]

Yes we have problems with "Grey" good. Not exactly regular "Class A" stuff and not exactly "black market".

IN NYC we frequently see (amoung other things) cleaning products and hygiene products intended for other countries, (labeled in foreign languages ONLY) in our stores. Sadly, these products sometimes contain inferior or now illegal (to us) ingredients. One can usually tell if it's intened for export (only) when the weights and measures used are metric only.

Of course as far as durable non-consumable goods go there are "knock-offs" (oooohh sorry "interpretations") all over the place. Street vendors in Manhattan are usually quite a source fo delght for tourists (and locals) who snatch up the second-rate good to take back home for personal use or to gift them out.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Then too there are the products recalled here and shipped to other countries for sale or resold here in various types of bargain stores.

Is OMO also called OMO-MATIC? I have a box that John brought me from a trip to Australia. It uses soap as the suds suppressant. So this imported stuff was maybe made in China or an even worse location? Did the two men label it as OMO or was it sold to them under the OMO name?

 

[nmaineman36]

We used to be able to find the Brazilian Omo here ...nice blue powder. Now I cant find it. I remember when I mentioned the stuff at work about Omo...and a friend of mine said ."Oh it figures you guys would have a detergent!" I said to her its Omo and not homo...gawd!

 

[launderess]

Consumer goods makers in general do not like products sold out of their intended market, and certianly do not like counterfit goods.

The first is because they can incur liability for a product that was not designed nor produced for sale in a particular country. Later is because most countries have very strict laws regarding "knocking off" another company's product, as you are essentially stealing from said company's pockets, and possibly damaging their brand. Both allow said company to seek damages.

Given all that, black market, grey goods, and what have you still appear all over the world. Recently there was a huge scandal about toothpaste being sold in the United States, which contained some very unhealthy additives. The tubes were bootlegged and shouldn't have beens old in the US to begin with.

L.

 

[twinniefan]

Omo-matic

Hi Tomturbomatic,
No Omo-matic,(if it is the Unilever one), is the normal standard version sold by supermarkets, you see most front loader detergents here in Australia use the word "Matic" in the name is that word is usually associated with low suds detergents.
Thanks for the responses people, most interesting to learn about it.
Cheers.
Steve.