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CUSTOMS officers are investigating a shipment of nearly 11,000 pairs of counterfeit jeans seized in a raid on a Hong Kong dock.

  The blue and black Levi Strauss 501s were seized at Kwai Chung container port where they had been loaded for delivery to Belgium.

  They originated in the Cheong Tat Garment Factory in Kaiping county, Guangdong - a region notorious for producing fake designer goods.

  Genuine Levi 501s fetch $500 each, but the counterfeit versions can be bought for as little as $35.

  The raid followed a tip-off to Fairbairn, Catley, Low & Kong solicitors in the Landmark, which has been acting regularly for Levis in its attempts to suppress imitations.

  Last year the company was involved in 17 raids on factories in mainland China in which 229,099 fake designer jeans were seized.

  In just one raid earlier this year, 25,219 pairs were confiscated.

  The solicitors work closely with the Chinese authorities, partner Grace Chu Hing-wah said.

  ''They are very co-operative. The Vice-Premier, Zhu Rongji, has given an internal directive that the authorities must give priority to anti-counterfeit actions,'' she added.

  China's Administration for Industry and Commerce has powers to confiscate fake products and fine the producers.

  The guilty parties may also be ordered to write a self-criticism. If an offence is repeated, the factory owners may have their manufacturing licence revoked.

  Often, seized goods have their labels removed and are sold by auction. The proceeds go into state funds.

  If Hong Kong factories are caught producing counterfeit items, injunctions can be taken out against them and civil proceedings to claim damages may be launched.

  It is not just Levis which are being copied. Ms Chu said illicit reproduction of compact discs was booming in China to the extent that the fakes were outselling the genuine articles.

  One recent estimate put the loss to the record industry at $50 million.

  Simon Cheetham, general manager of Pinkerton (Asia) Ltd Security Consulting and Investigation Agency, said his company had been involved in the seizure of 100,000 counterfeit items in the past eight weeks, mainly in Guangdong.

  The value of the haul of fake CDs, sunglasses, clothes and luggage was estimated to be well over US$1 million (HK$7.73 million).



Customs seize 11,000 pairs fake Levi jeans