Filtering out the fakes

Northumberland County Council Trading Standards have seized over 500 fake vehicle air and fuel filters – the largest made by the authority on these types of products.
Working in partnership with representatives of PSA (Vauxhall) the filters, bearing the names of Citroen and Peugeot, were seized from a premises in South East Northumberland.
The seizure is an important step in ensuring that the supply chain, and ultimately the consumer receive genuine parts for their vehicle to ensure they run smoothly and safely.
The investigation into this seizure is ongoing and further seizures may take place across the country at businesses who have received these counterfeit goods.
Paul Foster, Manager, Corporate & Brand Protection Investigations said, “The PSA Group is very concerned about the menace of counterfeit parts. There is clear evidence that the counterfeiting of spare parts and accessories has increased year on year, and unfortunately it has now become a worldwide issue.
“The PSA Group recognises this threat and has stepped up its anti-counterfeiting activity in all countries, working closely with the authorities, in line with its ethics policy in reporting and acting against wrongdoing. To be clear, the PSA Group does not distribute counterfeit parts though its supply chain, and takes immediate and decisive action wherever counterfeiting is identified. PSA would like to thank Northumberland Trading Standards for their support.”
Cllr John Riddle, Cabinet member for Planning, Housing and Resilience at the council said: “ Over the years, our Trading Standards Service has dealt with counterfeit sportswear, DVDs and even vodka but it is a very worrying development that counterfeiters are now supplying car parts. This shows that these criminal have no regard for their customers at all.
“This seizure is an important step in ensuring consumers are not deliberately deceived by products bearing trusted company names.”
David Sayer, Business Compliance and Public Safety Unit Manager said “PSA came to us with evidence that a company outside of the UK had been supplied counterfeit parts by a local business. We were, initially, very concerned that safety critical parts were being supplied. Although that wasn’t the case, we understand that these counterfeit filters will still affect a vehicle’s performance, fuel consumption and emissions. If any resident has any concerns about parts that have been fitted to their vehicles, they should contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 040506.”