Columbia Sportswears campaign to eradicate counterfeiting in several key markets yielded almost 80,000 counterfeit products in the last month after a series of raids in China. Acting on a request by COLM, Chinese officials in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province staged a raid that yielded nearly 45,000 pairs of counterfeit Columbia pants. Other July raids uncovered an additional 34,000 garments, including parkas, ball caps, and fishing vests. Efforts to expand Columbia's anti-counterfeiting program in Vietnam led to the shut-down of three workshops manufacturing bogus backpacks. According to the Tan Thoi Nhat Ward District 12 officials, this was the area's largest raid to date of counterfeit product.
Additionally, during the first half of the year, activities in Australia have resulted in the seizure of counterfeit apparel valued at one million dollars. The identification of significant importation and local distribution chains of counterfeit goods and the successful conclusion of Australian Federal court proceedings against a “well-known chain of local retail outlets” have sent a clear message that Columbia will continue to act aggressively against local counterfeiting operations.
