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CCMI Applauds Italian Seizure of Mislabeled Garments

Contact:
Karl Spilhaus 617-542-7481
info@cashmere.org

January 17, 2006 BOSTON and MILAN -- The Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute (CCMI) applauds the Customs Agency of the Republic of Italy for its recent seizure, in Verona, of acrylic and rayon garments fraudulently labeled as 100 percent cashmere.

CCMI is an international organization of leading processors of luxury fibers and is recognized by industry and government as the leading authority on domestic and international issues concerning luxury fibers. CCMI has taken its message of the importance of maintaining the integrity of luxury fiber labeling around the world. This seizure of nearly a quarter of a million Euros worth of fraudulently label products is the largest of its kind in Italy and marks a new level of cooperation between Italian Customs and CCMI.

CCMI is based in Boston, Massachusetts and maintains an office in Milan. The organization's website www.cashmere.org, which is translated into English, Italian, German, Chinese, and Japanese, has information on luxury fibers, fiber testing, and fiber-content labeling requirements.

"Consumers are being ripped off daily by inferior products fraudulently labeled as containing cashmere," said Karl Spilhaus, president of CCMI. "We hope this seizure will get the word out to importers and retailers that if you try to cheat the European consumer you will be caught and your merchandize confiscated!"

Click here for a copy of the press release from the Customs Agency of the Republic of Italy. For your convenience, here is a translation prepared by the staff of CCMI.

***BEGIN TRANSLATION***

Rome, January 12, 2006 -- The officers of Customs in Verona, in two different interventions at the V. Catullo airport in Verona and the warehouse of a Chinese importer, have seized 12,000 shawls valued at 60,000 to 240,000 Euros, depending on the sales venue.

These shawls were packed with the indication "Pashmina" and/or were bearing labels indicating 100 percent pashmina or 100 percent cashmere.

Chemical analysis carried out at the Chemical Laboratory of Magazzini Generali of Prato, in cooperation with the Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute (CCMI) confirmed, on the contrary, that the shawls were of acrylic and/or viscose rayon.

The importing companies have been denounced to the judicial authorities, who have confirmed the seizures.

***END TRANSLATION***

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