The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria, NAFDAC, arrested nine
suspects connected with alleged fake wine and beverage at the Relief Market in
Onitsha, Nigeria last week.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the arrest of five males and four females, followed a “special
raid and enforcement operation of the Federal Government’s ban on imported
fruit juices”.
NAFDAC’s head of investigation,
Kingsley Ejiofor, explained that those arrested in the Nigeria operation were
involved in the bottling of counterfeit and dangerous drinks.
“We came here for a
special assignment to mop up all counterfeit and prohibited products which
include imported fruit juices, food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics,
detergent and bottled water,” said Ejiofor.
He said they uncovered
the illegal manufacture of dangerous chemicals being bottled with popular brand
names.
According to Ejiofor said
that popular brands of beverages like Hennessey, 501, Johnny Walker, Red Label
whisky, Best Marula fruit cream, Pure heaven, Amarula, Baron De Vals, Eva and
J&W, among others were being faked.
But the incidence of fake
spirits and especially, fake wine, is global and becoming an increasing problem.
Italy have become particularly adept at uncovering wine scams created to
defraud both merchants and consumers.
In February 2016, Reuters
reported that the gendarmerie confiscated 9200 bottles of Prosecco and a
machine used to make the wrappers. The bust of mock bubbly was worth 350 000
euros on the street. Sham champagne has also received its fair share of
publicity, resulting in strict IP laws governing the use of the term
“champagne”.
Kate Jonker, general
manager at the Cape Wine Makers Guild told Afro-IP that they now insist on
holograms on the labels of all wine they handle.
“For about two years now,
we have been using holograms to identify the auction wines. The farmers also
only print enough labels for their bottles in order to keep it tight and
strict,” she says.
As an agent that sells
and markets on behalf of their 47 members, the Guild represents wine-makers
that have been producing out-standing wine for at least 5 years and each year
new members are considered for membership.
Two years ago the wine
world was shocked at the arrest of respected connoiseur, Rudy Kurniawan who was
sentenced to 10 years in prison after being exposed for millions of dollars
worth of wine fraud.
He created the impressive
collection using empty bottles and refilling them with a similar product and re-corking.
Over 500 bottles of his “fake” wine were destroyed after he was imprisoned.
Bloomberg reported recently that new ways of bottling wine are being used to combat potential fraud,
which often involves replicating labels or using old bottles.
These innovative
techniques, allow each bottle a unique fingerprint that can be scanned for
verification. The “bubble tag” is a sticker that is placed over the cork and
the glass with a random bubble design. Many also emboss the base of their
bottles with the wine farm name to further authenticate the contents.
The DrinksBusiness.com
reported in November 2014 that French newspaper Sud Ouest estimated that 20% of
global wine sales were fake wines- predominantly linked to the Bordeaux and
Burgundy regions in France.
“If the specialists and
connoiseurs can’t tell the difference between an authentic and a fake wine- how
is the man on the street supposed to know?” says Jonker. She suggests only
buying wine from authorized dealers or trusted suppliers, or straight from the wine
farm itself.
Jonker also warns that
investors should be aware of how wine has been stored before they buy it.
A site dedicated to the elimination
of international wine counterfeiting, www.winefraud.com, holds courses for interested parties who
want to learn more about counteracting the problem. They focus on labels,
printing, corks, bottling glass and even the glue used to affix labels.
Ejiofor warned the public
after the Nigerian arrest to “destroy cups, plastics or bottles after use
because not doing so encourages these illegal producers. Retailers and
consumers should also issue and collect receipts for every product purchased to
enable tracking,” he said.
