Traders in the county could face legal action and substantial penalties for distributing counterfeit goods, Powys County Council has warning.
The warning has been issued after the council's Trading Standards Service successfully prosecuted a Chirbury-based man for supplying counterfeit Ugg boots.
Michael Gindrat pleaded guilty to selling a pair of counterfeit Ugg boots under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and was given a conditional discharge for 12 months by Welshpool Magistrates Court on Wednesday, September 8. He was ordered to pay investigation costs of £500, legal costs of £150 and a £15 victim surcharge.
A forfeiture order was also made for approximately 3,000 counterfeit discs found at his premises.
The proceedings involved an internet investigation conducted by staff from the Trading Standards Service and a warrant was executed in March 2009 following a test purchase. The test purchase proved that Gindrat was selling counterfeit Ugg boots from an auction site and the investigation demonstrated that the activity on the auction site proved extremely profitable to him.
Cllr Graham Brown, Board Member for Public Protection, said: "We support legitimate businesses and local tax payers by targeting illegal shadow economy activities such as product counterfeiting by individuals, who have little regard to the county's traders and only seek to further destablise our economy.
"We will continue this work to support the intellectual property rights of our local businesses and the wider business community."
Clive Jones, the council's Principal Trading Standards Officer with responsibility for Special Investigations, said: "Firm action is needed on any issues related to product counterfeiting to promote fair trading within our community.
"We have also noticed that there's a tendency for some people in Powys to be tempted to import large quantities of suspicious products from wholesale auction sites in the Far East and our investigations have highlighted that these are often counterfeit.
"What we encounter is individuals solely looking at profit, with no experience in the product they are importing, no knowledge of legitimate supply chains or the original product and don't care about what effect it has on legitimate trade. We will stamp these practises out through education and enforcement.
"Our surveillance on illegal activity involving counterfeiting is increasing and we ask users of auction sites or any person offered suspected counterfeit good to be vigilant and to warn us of any suspicious sellers through our contact points. Alternatively ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
The council's Trading Standards Service can be contacted on Brecon 01874 623420; Llandrindod Wells 01597; Newtown 01686 617524. Alternatively email trading.standards@powys.gov.uk or visit www.powys.gov.uk/tradingstandards