Prague - A recent series of police and customs raids on Czech street markets was prompted by a report by the US Department of Commerce, which lists the Czech Republic among countries harbouring vendors of counterfeit goods, Czech daily Lidové noviny reported Thursday 4 December.

According to the report, the Czech Republic belongs to a group of countries that do least to prevent the sale of counterfeits. Other countries included in the group are China, Russia, Venezuela and Mexico.

The report analyses the degree to which ownership rights and copyright are observed in different countries. It is published regularly by the US government as a guide for US investors.

"Some most problematic markets are even located on state or municipal land and they advertise their services on the internet," says the report.

"We discussed this watch list and its affects in January 2008. Based on the report, we decided to step up checks of these marketplaces. We are in talks with the US embassy on our results," said Miroslav Nováček from the investigation and oversight department of the Financial and Tax Directorate.

Tonnes of counterfeits seized in a single raid

During a massive raid on 22 November on Prague's largest marketplace in Libuš, authorities seized five tonnes of counterfeit merchandise. "In addition to that, our police dog found traces of drugs and we discovered a vehicle full of handguns," said customs spokeswoman Kateřina Rendlová.

A few days later, customs officers in Cheb seized two containers shipped to the Czech Republic from China, containing fake Nike shoes and fake Armani jeans worth dozens of millions of crowns. Since the beginning of the year, Cheb-based customs authorities have seized a total of 34 containers with counterfeits worth some CZK 400 million in total.

Many of the vendors of counterfeits in the Czech Republic are Vietnamese immigrants. The Czech Foreign Ministry has recently suspended issue of visas to Vietnamese citizens until the end of the year, saying many applicants present the Czech embassy with fake documents. In the future, applicants from Vietnam will need to pass stricter checks before getting a visa.