Are there dangers in your suitcase?

Aug 16 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

Many people return from holiday with illegal souvenirs. Laura Davis reports

THE sign on the market stall catches your eye – and how can you resist the packs of batteries for 50p, or a Liverpool FC towel for a fraction of the price you’d pay at home?

That Barbie scooter would be good for a Christmas present, and why not treat yourself to a cheap bottle of designer perfume while you’re at it?

By the time the two-week holiday in the Far East comes to an end, your suitcase is packed with bargains as well as a couple of boxes of medicinal tea as gifts.

Brilliant – lots of money saved, you can’t lose.

But, unfortunately, when you get back home you may find out that you can.

The batteries, though they look like the real thing, could overheat and explode; the wheels could come off the Barbie scooter when your child is playing on it; you could end up with a nasty rash from the perfume.

“People often buy things on holiday that they don’t realise are fake, they just think they’re getting a bargain,” says Tony Tibbles, director of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, where the exhibition Seized! includes displays of counterfeit goods.

“It’s easy to go and buy a bottle of perfume or a pack of cheap batteries and not realise that they are fake.”

Among the items on display are a pair of Miss Sixty flip-flops, Barbie toys, Lacoste shirts, a Liverpool FC towel and a big box of Duracell Plus batteries.

Apart from the “Poly Station”, a phoney version of the PlayStation, it is hard to tell them from the real thing.

“These items were made illegally and so will not conform to the health and safety specifications that the real version would have to,” continues Tony.

“Take the Barbie scooter, for example – it looks harmless but, if it breaks while a child is using it, it could be quite dangerous.”

Aside from the fact that you are getting an inferior, potentially dangerous, product, there are plenty of other reasons to avoid buying fake goods.

The trade in counterfeit often funds organised crime and drug dealing – even terrorism – and genuine manufacturers cannot compete with the low costs, so their companies fold and local people can end up out of work.

“Those people who do realise they are buying a fake may think ‘what’s the harm in it’ but you find with all these activities that it is very often organised gangs who are involved, so in a way people are unwittingly supporting activities like drug dealing and violence,” says Tony.

Another thing to avoid is buying objects that contain parts of rare plants or animals. Some of these are obvious – if you return home from Libya with the shell of an Indian star tortoise, for example, then chances are you would suspect it was on the endangered species list.

One of these is among the objects on display at the Maritime Museum, all of which were seized by UK Customs officers, as well as a wolf’s head and a bag of waxed butterflies.

But what about those that are less obvious. Would you think twice about buying a piece of coral? In fact, nearly 3,000 species of the plant are endangered, and removing them can have a detrimental affect on the seabed.

The Seized! exhibition also includes a Shahtoosh shawl, made from the winter hair of the Tibetan antelope – five beasts are killed to make just one garment – and an elephant hair necklace.

More sinister still are the items of food and drink you buy which may contain animal parts. Remember the medicinal tea? The packet of ”Qushi Guiling Cha” in the Maritime Museum contains ground golden gu turtle, an endangered species.

In the same case are some “Hindu Magic Pills”, or Chinese traditional medicine, which has among its ingredients geckos and leopard.

“My advice would be for people to be careful and think about what they are buying,” says Tony.

“It’s easy to come back from holiday with something illegal by accident, but with a bit of caution it can be avoided.”

Consumer Direct offers these tips for avoiding buying fakes, which also apply in this country:

Be suspicious about bargains. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is!

Find out if you have any guarantees or after-sales service.

Examine the quality of the goods.

Check labels and packaging for misspellings and poor logos.

Take extra care at street markets, car boot sales, pubs and computer fairs, or in other situations where it may be more difficult to get in touch with the trader after you have left the scene with your purchase.

lauradavis