Importer complains of high illicit trade in TVs

An estimated 70 per cent of the television sets on the local market are imported without the correct amount of duty being paid or are passed off as leading brands, according to Phoenix Group managing director Stephen Petroni.

The group is a major importer and retailer of household appliances and other goods.

Mr Petroni said irregular sales of television sets by far exceed the legal sales and he had been in contact with a number of other serious dealers who had also complained about the matter.

"There is a distortion of the market. Any serious dealer will tell you that the first thing most customers ask when buying a television set is whether they can do without a licence. And many of them go to shop elsewhere when you inform them they can only buy it if they pay the licence," Mr Petroni said.

Mr Petroni congratulated the police on the seizure of more than 800 TV sets illegally bearing the Phoenix brand name. He said he hoped police investigations would curb the illicit importation and trade of counterfeit products in the interest of bona fide traders and consumers.

Police sources said Monday's haul was by far the biggest seizure of TV sets in Malta. About 800 sets were seized from a Lija warehouse and another 50 from three stores belonging to the same family.

Mr Petroni said he had become aware at least four years ago of the problem concerning Phoenix television sets. His company is the sole representative of the brand name. There had been similar problems with other brands for several years, he added.

A Pheonix client had brought a TV set in for repairs and although they had never seen one like it they had tried to fix it. But they found that the screen was made in China.

"Counterfeit TV sets invariably claim to be CE (EU) compliant when in fact they are not. Most come with a ready fitted 13 amp plug when no EU product comes with such a plug. Needless to say, their quality is also inferior," Mr Petroni explained.

Further investigations by the company revealed that television sets with the Phoenix brand name were available from some shops but they were very different from the originals and carried a lower price tag. Although counterfeits are cheaper, the profit margins are much higher.

Mr Petroni said the television sets imported by Phoenix were made in Italy by the FormentiSèleco company, the largest TV manufacturing company in Europe.

"In China, there are factories that produce a TV set with any brand name. Some traders take advantage of this.

"The TV sets are packed in boxes which indicate they are made in Italy and then exported to Malta," he said.

Even the boxes of the genuine sets differ from the counterfeit ones. Nor do the labels on the fake television sets give any indication of where they are manufactured.

Mr Petroni said Malta's television licence and duty system was too complicated and bureaucratic and the fact that one had to pay a licence for a second TV only made it attractive for some unscrupulous dealers to sell illicitly imported sets under the counter without a licence.

Recommendations about the matter had been made to the government and they were partially taken on board: the licence for the third or more televisions has been waived.