(Yicai) Sept. 5 -- Pop Mart International Group said customs officials worldwide seized almost 8 million counterfeits of the Chinese toymaker’s products between the start of the year and the middle of last month.

The 7.91 million-item haul included more than 260,000 in the Netherlands alone, along with 1.83 million that were intercepted by Chinese customs officers prior to being shipped abroad, the Beijing-based company announced today.

Pop Mart has had huge success with products such as its Labubu elf-like collectible dolls, but this has also spawned a massive fake goods industry. To battle this, the firm has completed customs registration in 27 countries and regions to net the counterfeit goods. 

The fake toys are poorly made and have wonky design, the company said, warning that they could also pose a danger to children. 

Thousands of fake Labubu dolls were seized in the United Kingdom recently. Trading standards officials said they posed dangers such as choking hazard and exposure to toxic substances, according to a BBC News report.

Pop Mart has provided customs authorities with multi-language anti-counterfeiting guides to help distinguish genuine products from fakes. A source from the company said that consumers can identify genuine products by the anti-counterfeiting sticker on the packaging, or from production details such as the tie-dye process.

Pop Mart has also ramped up its legal efforts. The business applied to the Hague Court for an “ex parte temporary restraining order” for the fake goods in the Netherlands, which allows for a direct ruling without the defendant’s presence in court. 

The court promptly approved the firm’s application and delivered a warning letter and a written judgment to large Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo on the same day. Another Netherlands retailer, Albert Heijn, was also reprimanded over sales of fake goods.

There has also been a surge in trade of counterfeit goods via online channels. Pop Mart said it had collected more than 300 links for counterfeit products on multiple cross-border e-commerce platforms, and it has taken action to freeze the sellers’ accounts. 

The fake dolls have become known as ‘Lafufu’ -- as play on words, as ‘fufu’ is Chinese slang for fake -- and are popular partly because of the high prices of the genuine articles. Pop Mart has responded by applying to register Lafufu as a trademark. 

Editor: Tom Litting