Crackdown on deadly Chinese imports

Published on Saturday 11 November 2006 01:19

DEADLY fake medicines, including tablets made with yellow road paint and unhygienic pregnancy testing kits, are part of a tide of counterfeit goods from China posing a danger to health, consumers were warned yesterday.

Heart pills coated with furniture polish and bottles of bogus shampoo which caused skin damage were among five million items seized by customs officials at ports, including those in Scotland, in the past year.

The EU Tax and Customs Commissioner, Laszlo Kovacs, said the fakes, which cost European Union countries 336 million a year, were "a growing danger for the health and safety and lives of our citizens".

He said counterfeit goods no longer involve imitation luxury watches, but condoms and HIV and pregnancy testing kits manufactured under unhygienic conditions.

Mr Kovacs said cigarettes containing sand and cadmium, and with 75 per cent more tar and a quarter more nicotine than rules permit, were also among the 75 million items seized in Europe last year.

The EU will make China the main focus of its attempts to crack down on piracy and the trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, raised the issue this week on a visit to the country, describing counterfeiting as "a ball and chain" on global competitiveness.

Container ports such as Rosyth are understood to be used for bringing fake goods into Scotland.