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By EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
(SDN) — If you are looking for cheap branded goods, Greenhills Shopping Center is a place to go. But beware, you might get in trouble for many products in the popular mall are counterfeits or pirated goods. Meaning, illegal products.
These counterfeit products, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said, include electronics, perfumes, watches, shoes, accessories, and fashion items. The USTR branded the popular shopping destinations in San Juan City, Metro Manila, as one of the world’s “notorious markets for counterfeiting and piracy”.
On the other hand, the USTR acknowledged that the Greenhills Shopping Center has made known its “willingness to cooperate with authorities”, apparently to get rid of the counterfeit products.
After the unwelcome branding from the United States government, the mayor of San Juan City, Francisco “Francis” Zamora, is not taking this development sitting down. He’ll do something about it.
The local chief executive of the Metro Manila enclave met with members of a journalists’ organization on Monday, 6th February 2023, and he was asked about the USTR declaration of Greenhills Shopping Center as a notorious market for fake goods.
Zamora assured that they will conduct a strict monitoring of the shopping center, a popular destination for bargain hunters. Shoppers look for cheap products carrying well-known international brand names.
He revealed that they already discussed it with the traders to stop selling illegal products. Zamora even assured further the San Juan City government will enforce the full force of the law if they will not comply.
Zamora added that the merchants of Greenhills are presently in transition and assured they will sell genuine products recognized internationally.
On the other hand, the USTR mentioned some positives in its report about Greenhills Shopping Center, including the shopping center’s “willingness to cooperate with authorities”.
“Law enforcement authorities have taken action to seize counterfeit luxury goods, notably during a high-profile raid in April 2022. Right holders report enforcement activity in the form of warning letters and subsequent suspension of business, but the targets of enforcement often evade such efforts by moving the location of their stalls,” the USTR report pointed out.
The PAMAMARISAN-Rizal Press Corps headed by journalist Neil Adrales Alcover paid a courtesy call on the San Juan City mayor on Monday. (✓)