JAPAN TURNS AWAY FAKE SOUTH KOREAN FOOTWEAR
Japanese customs, faced with a flood of
fake Reebok sneakers from South Korea, have turned away some
100,000 pairs since last summer, Rebook officials said.
    A Ministry of Finance spokesman said officials at the ports
of Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama and Kobe had begun barring
counterfeit footwear but declined to say how many pairs.
    A spokesman for Reebok Japan, the local subsidiary of
Reebok International <RBK> of Avon, Massachussetts, said the
firm had complained of the influx to the Ministry last July.
    "They use our trademark and everything. And it's easy to
fake our trademark," the Reebok spokesman said.
    He said customs had sent back some 100,000 pairs to South
Korea, but the Finance Ministry declined to confirm this.
    "Because of various reasons, we cannot say how many pairs
have been turned away," the ministry spokesman said.
    The Reebok spokesman said an unspecified number of fake
Reeboks have made it into the country, and were being sold at
cut-rate prices in Tokyo and Osaka stores.
    "They go for about 20 to 30 pct less than the price of
genuine Reeboks," the spokesman said. A pair of real Reeboks
sells for about 10,000 yen in Japan.
    The government last summer warned stores not to carry the
shoes and Reebok has sued two for continuing to sell them, he
said. No action has been taken against the South Korean
manufacturers, he said.
    Reebok has also found counterfeits from Taiwan and the
Philippines aimed at the U.S. Market and fakes from Spain
targetted at European markets, he said.
 REUTER
