Bottecchia sees over €2 million in goods seized in customs allegation
Officials with the Venetian Customs Office, accompanied by the Guardia di Finanza, have seized €2,174,922 worth of product from Bottecchia, alleging circumvention of duties.
Local press reports emerged at the end of April describing the bust, which had a particular interest in the importation of electric bikes into Italy from China. Regulations apply that impose strict anti-dumping measures on these products, with the tariffs high enough to have proved a significant deterrent to trade; Eurostat data published not long after the publication of measures saw imports of Chinese made electric bikes to the UK slump by 91%. The measures came into place in response to a complaint made by the European Bicycle Manufacturer’s Association lodged in 2017.
It is these tariffs that the bike label is alleged to have swerved, prompting an investigation at the Venice Customs Office. The investigation includes the allegation that the components of the final product arrived in several shipments for latter assembly in Italy, something for which the prosecutors say a paper trail exists.
The European Prosecutor’s Office, alongside the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Venice, have collected evidence from the firm’s site, with a video posted on the local news platforms capturing some of the activity on site.
Those reports suggest that suspicion was first raised when imports of complete electric bicycles began to be replaced with component shipments, which were later set for Italian assembly. It is said that the investigation began in August of 2021.
The company’s management is now accused by the magistrate of the European Public Prosecutor Donata Costa of having evaded customs duties, of aggravated smuggling and forgeries of declarations.
The Bottecchia CEO has since told the press: “We are not smugglers, we have been producing bicycles for a hundred years. We will do everything in our power to safeguard the work of the company.”
