The party balloons sold in Friuli were irregular: the Finance Department seized three million of them

PORDENONE. In every self-respecting party, especially for children, there is never a shortage of balloons: of every size, measure and color, with writings praising the birthday boy or the anniversary. Those found – and seized – first in the Pordenone area and then in the Milanese hinterland by the financiers of the Provincial Command of Pordenone were, however, lacking a fundamental characteristic, the regular “Ce” marking, essential to certify their production with materials and procedures compliant with those imposed by European legislation.

The discovery was made by the Fiamme Gialle of the Economic-Financial Police Unit of western Friuli which, starting from a first seizure of 25,000 pieces, carried out between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, in two Pordenone stores, managed to trace the supply chain by identifying suppliers in two companies, also managed by Chinese citizens, operating in the province of Milan.

The search of the premises, ordered by the Public Prosecutor of Pordenone after an appraisal had confirmed the non-conformity of the products, led to the discovery of over 3 million balloons, all with irregular “Ce” marking, which, however, could induce the final consumer is mistaken about the regularity of the product.

What surprised the military, more than the quantity, was the size of the warehouses used by the two importers, no less than nine, over 90,000 square meters large, crammed with a number of goods such as to make product searches particularly complex. The legal representatives of the companies have been reported to the judicial authorities for the crime of commercial fraud, provided for by art. 515 of the Criminal Code.

The activity of the Gdf confirms the Corps’ attention to the protection of public health and regular competition between operators in the sector, too often distorted by the marketing of poor, low-cost products, made with unsuitable materials and, nevertheless, presented as complying with the safety requirements on composition and use.