Travelers beware! Switzerland is cracking down on people who buy counterfeit goods and try to bring them into the country. People arriving in Switzerland with fake textiles, handbags, shoes and, of course, fake Swiss luxury watches could have their items snatched away by border officials, when new customs rules come into force July First. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.
Fake versions of famous Swiss brands, such as Omega, Cartier, and Rolex, proliferate. Some of the watches are very well done, making it hard for many people to resist the lure of buying a pricey gold, diamond-studded Rolex for just $25 or $50.
The Swiss watch-making industry claims it loses more than $700 million a year from these knock-offs. Jean-Daniel Pasche heads the industry association.
"The fakes can provoke damage to the brand," he said. "If there are too many fakes on the market, the consumer could lose the confidence they have in the true watches. So, it is very dangerous to admit such fakes on the market."
The head of legal services at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, Juerg Herren, says people should not think that buying fake goods is just a petty crime. He calls it a serious matter, which must be discouraged. He says the new law, which comes into effect July 1, closes a loophole that allows individuals to enter the country with fake goods they buy for themselves.
"Customs will be able to seize infringing goods carried by private people for their personal use only. So, that means even if the goods in question are not intended for resale, customs can seize these goods," said Herren.
Herren says pirated goods are a growth industry. He says those most sought after by tourists include textiles, handbags, watches and shoes. But, he says virtually everything gets counterfeited today. No sector is spared. He says it is difficult, if not impossible, to stamp out this trade, but that efforts must be made.
"Of course, we are perfectly aware that it will not be possible to screen everybody coming into Switzerland. This is not the purpose of the new law," he said. "The purpose is rather to have a consistent message also to our own nationals that counterfeiting is a big problem and very detrimental. So, it is all about this and we are perfectly aware that customs will only act if they happen to stumble across a product that is fake."
Herren does not consider this a draconian law.
"The only thing that customs can do is seize the watch. So, what you lose is actually the fake product and I don't think it is a right to have a fake product. But, there will be no fines and there will be no prison term, of course. There will be no criminalizing of private people," said Herren.
Most counterfeit products originate from Asia, particularly China. The Swiss watch-making industry says China is the top producer of fake timepieces. Most of the people who bring in fake goods are believed to be the Swiss, themselves.
Oddly enough, the Swiss tourist board says Chinese visitors usually buy an authentic Swiss brand, so they can impress the folks back home with their purchase.
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出国旅行的游客们请注意：瑞士正在查禁旅客购买仿冒产品、并且试图把它们带进瑞士的行为。旅客携带的仿冒纺织品、手提包、鞋子，当然还有仿冒的高级瑞士手表都有可能被海关官员没收。新的海关条例将在7月1号开始实施。
仿冒的瑞士名表，包括欧米加、卡地亚和劳力士正在到处泛滥。一些手表做得非常精致，许多人难以抵制只花上25到50美元就能买到一只镶嵌钻石的劳力士金表的诱惑。
瑞士制表工业称，它每年因开工不足而蒙受的损失高达7亿美元。吉恩-丹尼尔.帕齐是一家行业协会的负责人。
她说：“仿冒产品损害品牌的商标。如果仿冒产品充斥市场，消费者就会对他们购买的真正名牌手表失去信心。所以让这些仿冒产品在市场上出现是很危险的。”
瑞士联邦知识产权研究所的法律部主任朱尔格.海伦对记者表示，人们不应该认为购买仿冒产品并无大害，他认为此事关系很大，必须制止。海伦说，7月1号生效的新法规将堵塞允许旅客携带他们购买的仿冒产品进入瑞士的漏洞。
他说：“海关将有权没收私人携带的仅为个人使用的违禁商品，所以这就是说，被查禁的商品即使不是为了出售，海关也有权没收。”
海伦表示，制造仿冒产品是一个不断扩张的产业。他说游客最热衷于购买的包括纺织品、手提包、手表和鞋类。但是海伦表示，事实上在当今社会，任何东西都可以被仿冒，没有任何行业可以幸免。他表示，取缔这些贸易如果说不是不可能的，也是非常困难的，但是必须尽力这样做。
他说：“当然，我们完全明白，对于到瑞士来的旅客实行人人检查是不可能的，这也不是新法规的目的。我们的目的是要向包括我们瑞士国民在内的所有人传递一个明确的信息，那就是制造仿冒产品是严重的问题，是非常有害的。所以这是我们的目的，我们完全明白，海关将只会在偶尔发现仿冒产品时采取行动。”
海伦并不认为这项立法过于苛刻。他说：“海关仅仅没收仿冒的手表，所以你所蒙受的损失实际上仅仅是伪劣产品，而我认为，购买仿冒产品是不对的。但是海关并不对你处以罚金，当然更不会有刑期。我们不会把携带仿冒产品的人当作罪犯处理。”
绝大多数仿冒产品起源于亚洲，尤其是中国。瑞士的制表工业表示，中国是仿冒钟表的最大产地，而携带仿冒产品进入瑞士的绝大多数人据信却是瑞士国民。
令人奇怪的是，瑞士旅游协会表示，中国游客通常都买真正的瑞士品牌，以便回国后对人炫耀他们购买的瑞士货。
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