Around 30 tons of counterfeit washing powder were seized by Procon-RJ in an operation carried out this Thursday (1st) at Ceasa, in Baixada Fluminense.
The action was motivated by a complaint received by the authority, informing that original products were being counterfeited and distributed in the region.
The operation began after inspectors from Procon-RJ find suspicious products in a market in Belford Roxo (RJ).
The owner of the establishment presented an invoice and stated that he had purchased the washing powder from a distributor located at Ceasa.
In an investigation at Ceasa, inspectors identified a lots of counterfeit washing powder in stock.
In one of the distributors, 30 tons of the product were found. In another location, a representative said he had already separated the counterfeit products to prevent them from being sold.
A CNN sought out Unilever, the manufacturer of the Omo brand washing powder, which was counterfeited by the criminals.
The manufacturer said it is closely monitoring the incidents and that There are signs that can help consumers identify suspected cases of product counterfeiting, such as:
- The quality of the cartridge closure;
- Color, brightness and printing: packaging produced in the factory undergoes controls that ensure that materials are received according to a defined standard;
- Primary coding (manufacturing date, expiry date and batch): factory productions are made through laser engraving in a prominent way;
Another seizure of 18 tons
Around 18 tons of counterfeit washing powder were seized during an inspection operation carried out at the Megabox supermarket, in the north of Rio de Janeiro.
The operation was carried out last Tuesday (30) and the establishment caught committing the irregularity is located on Avenida Brasil in the neighborhood of Olaria.
The operation was carried out after the State Secretariat for Consumer Protection received complaints about the counterfeiting.
The supermarket was fined and an administrative process will be opened to investigate and apply the appropriate measures. No one was arrested.
A CNN contacted the company Megabox, but received no response.
Identification of counterfeit products
Two months before the two operations, who seized a total of 48 tons of the counterfeit product the washing powder manufacturer had trained Procon-RJ inspectors to identify counterfeit products.
See the difference between the products:
During training, inspectors learned to recognize specific counterfeit characteristics, such as the absence of a watermark, visible only under black light, and the manual gluing of the boxes, which differed from the automated process of original packaging.
On the real box, it is possible to observe the Unilever manufacturer’s hologram with the help of black light. In the fake version, even with the light, there is no hologram, says the Undersecretary of State for Consumer Protection, Alessandro Carracena.
Source: CNN Brasil
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