Acting Chairperson of the WCO Council, Zouhair Chorfi (left) with SARS Commissioner Oupa Magashula and WCO Secretary-General Kunio Mikuriya at the award hand-over

A special award was recently presented to SARS by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in recognition of SARS Customs’ commitment in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy, in particular before and during the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. South Africa was flooded with counterfeit products, particularly clothing and footwear, in the run-up to the World Cup, and SARS Customs pulled out all stops to prevent these goods from entering the country. Approximately R350 to R400 million worth of counterfeit goods, including over 1.1 million Bafana Bafana shirts, were confiscated by Customs during this time. The award was handed over to the Commissioner of SARS at a WCO Council meeting in Brussels at the end of June. Source: SARS eNews

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