The following was the wording of the FOI request which was sent to local authorities in England:
Please could you supply some data concerning the seizure of counterfeit goods by or in conjunction with Trading Standards in your area.
1. Please provide a breakdown of the number of seizures of each of the following type of product, per postcode area of seizures, for each of the calendar years 2013, 2014 and 2015 (please see template spreadsheet attached).
Where a postcode for the seizure is not known please use XXX if it falls within your local authority or YYY for any that were outside your local authority area.
The goods types in question are:
- Alcohol
- Clothing & Accessories
- Computer Games
- Computer Software
- DVD/Blu Ray
- Electrical Goods
- Food/Drink (Non Alc)
- Footwear
- Household Products
- Mobile Phone Accessories
- Music CD
- Other Goods
- Perfume & Cosmetics
- Sports Goods
- Tobacco
- Vehicle Parts & Accessories
2. Please also provide a breakdown of seizures of counterfeit products for the calendar years 2013, 2014 and 2015.
I would like incident by incident details, giving dates, times, locations (postcode), the type of product (see above), the quantity of the product and a description of the product seized, including the counterfeited brand name if applicable, their value (estimated or confirmed) and the loss in tax revenue they represented had they been sold (estimated or confirmed).
I would prefer to receive the information in a spreadsheet, in either .xls or .csv format if possible.
The following is an entirely fictional example to illustrate how I would ideally like the information laid out:
Date Time Location Product type Quantity seized Unit of measurement Description Value Loss in tax revenue
18/06/2013 13:40 B1 1RS Tobacco 40,000 Cigarettes Boxes of cigarettes falsely labelled Marlboro, Lucky Strike and Mayfair £320,000 £259,000
19/06/2013 12:20 B1 2BB Alcohol 20 Bottles (70cl) Vodka made by an unlicensed producer and carrying the label Russian Best £100 £20
If it is not possible to meet my request as I have specified I am more than prepared to discuss other ways that as much of it as possible can be supplied within cost limits.
Attached to the FOI request email was this template. Not many respondents used it.