Sports Resources Ltd was fined $23,750 in the Auckland District Court today after pleading guilty to two charges of breaching the Fair Trading Act. Company Director Anthony Botica was also convicted and discharged.
Mr Botica instructed his staff to cut off the words "Made in China," and sew in new "Made in New Zealand" labels onto New Zealand’s 2006 Commonwealth Games uniforms. The clothing was actually made in China.
Commerce Commission investigators found the floor littered with "Made in China" labels when they searched Sports Resources’ Otara factory in December 2005, after receiving an anonymous tip off.
Thousands of items of official team clothing, including shorts, t-shirts, fleeces and the iconic black singlet, were falsely labelled.
Sports Resources Limited, a leading New Zealand sports clothing manufacturer and distributor, agreed to supply Adidas and the New Zealand Olympic Committee with over 8,000 items of clothing for Games athletes and officials.
"It was a condition of supply that most of the Games clothing - including the iconic black singlet - would be made in New Zealand,’ says Deborah Battell, Commerce Commission Director of Fair Trading.
"Sports Resources deliberately relabelled clothing without informing Adidas and the NZOC," says Ms Battell.
"It’s hard to think of a more blatantly dishonest act than cutting off the words ‘Made in China’ and sewing on a new ‘Made in New Zealand’ label," says Ms Battell.
Mr Botica instructed his staff to cut off the words "Made in China," and sew in new "Made in New Zealand" labels onto New Zealand’s 2006 Commonwealth Games uniforms. The clothing was actually made in China.
Commerce Commission investigators found the floor littered with "Made in China" labels when they searched Sports Resources’ Otara factory in December 2005, after receiving an anonymous tip off.
Thousands of items of official team clothing, including shorts, t-shirts, fleeces and the iconic black singlet, were falsely labelled.
Sports Resources Limited, a leading New Zealand sports clothing manufacturer and distributor, agreed to supply Adidas and the New Zealand Olympic Committee with over 8,000 items of clothing for Games athletes and officials.
"It was a condition of supply that most of the Games clothing - including the iconic black singlet - would be made in New Zealand,’ says Deborah Battell, Commerce Commission Director of Fair Trading.
"Sports Resources deliberately relabelled clothing without informing Adidas and the NZOC," says Ms Battell.
"It’s hard to think of a more blatantly dishonest act than cutting off the words ‘Made in China’ and sewing on a new ‘Made in New Zealand’ label," says Ms Battell.
