Clothes in Hong Kong market can be dangerous

EMN Dimapur, August 6 NAGAS are like to dress well, undeniably much more than many others youths in any other Indian states. Gucci Armani, and other such international brands are a common sight worn on the streets ... most of them are sourced from Hong Kong market in Dimapur. Every Naga girl, even from middle-class families, prefers to dress like Jodie Foster, Abbey Clancy and Victoria Beckham. They wear best of the brands available in Dimapur, the commercial capital of Nagaland. But, where does it come from? Are these genuine international brands? A visit to the narrow lanes in Hong Kong market, which is located near the railway station, makes it obvious that the bazaar is a dumping ground of cheap Chinese goods smuggled into India from a third country. The cheap prices attract buyers from Assam and other neighbouring states. “We bring our stock from New Delhi, and our products are all Thailand-made,” Rokibul, one of the sellers claimed. But, most of his international brands of apparels were either without labels, or clearly mentioned, “Made in China”. For those customers, who insist for original brand, it is a test and trial by error to differentiate the fake brands produced in China, from the genuine. According to reports, a section of importers from Nepal purchase imitation international clothing brands from non-descript factories in China. On reaching Nepal through the land-route, a large section of the consignments are dumped in Dhulabari, a border town in eastern Nepal. Subsequently, the procuring agents from northeast India, and especially from Dimapur’s Hong Kong market, pick up them up for transshipment. The cheap Chinese goods which mostly include electronic goods and apparels are transshipped to Dimapur by passenger trains, and surprisingly, without being detected by the enforcement agencies. In addition to the fake Chinese goods, there has been a new demand for Bangladeshi clothes in Dimapur’s Hong Kong market. The clothes produced in Bangladesh, mostly export rejects, are smuggled into the northeast through Kolkata. The Bangladeshi goods, which are much better than the Chinese goods in quality, do not carry labels of any brand. Interestingly, almost 50 per cent of the Hong Kong bazaar shop owners and employees are immigrants from Bangladesh with dubious backgrounds. Some of the others are Tibetan refugees who were the first community to venture into this business.The Tibetans run nearly 200 shops in Hong Kong Market. Unlike the more upscale shopping zone in Central Plaza, a landmark complex in Dimapur, the Hong Kong market goods cannot guarantee the quality of the products. The sellers and buyers have little knowledge on the use of harmful dyes in the apparels. “We have to be very careful while picking up the cheap clothes,” Dr. Ananta Das, a skin specialist from Guwahati, who was in Dimapur for a meeting, said, there are reports that non-descript Chinese manufacturers use formaldehyde to give their wares a fresh, unwrinkled appearance and prevent mildew during shipping. It was found in the western countries that formaldehyde levels in some Chinese clothes exports were even up to 900 times higher than the prescribed safety limit. As the clothes in Hong Kong market are smuggled in from Nepal and Bangladesh, there have been no safety checks done. Formaldehyde is a highly toxic, colourless gas, and has been linked to skin irritation and allergic reactions. Even more worryingly, the chemical is classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. While fashion and a penchant for all things new is an integral trait of human character, its equally important that customers don’t expose themselves to health hazards for a few dollars less.