by Raphael Minder
At the opening of a global congress on combating counterfeiting in Brussels, Ronald Noble, secretary-general of the international police organisation, said that counterfeiting was, at best, "on the radar screen of a few countries". He added: "What I find absolutely amazing is that this is a multi-billion dollar problem that affects the safety of people, the security of governments, that is connected to organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism . . . and nobody pressures me to say what I'm doing about this problem. There is no pressure to produce results."
Noble's complaint was echoed by other participants. Michel Danet, secretary-general of the World Customs Organisation, said that "we don't have a mandate" to stop counterfeiting. "We have a patchwork, which has holes in it."
The sounding of alarm bells also comes amid signs that counterfeiting has become engulfed in the financing of terrorist activities. Noble said it was difficult to establish the scale of terror groups' involvement in counterfeiting, but he suggested it covered goods ranging from car parts to compact discs. As an example, he cited the discovery of euro 1m ($1.2m, £670m) worth of counterfeit brake pads and shock absorbers in Lebanon last October. Interpol established that revenues from these vehicle parts had been earmarked for members of Hizbollah.
Noble indicated that counterfeiting could prove a particularly attractive source of financing for terrorists because it was "a low-risk, high-profit crime area" under less scrutiny by police than other activities such as drugs trafficking. Still, seizures of counterfeit goods have climbed, suggesting either that police have become more efficient or that the illegal trade is booming. US customs reported a 12 per cent increase in counterfeit seizures last year while EU customs found 50m counterfeit or pirated articles in the first half of 2003, compared with 85m articles during the whole of 2002.
While participants suggested that organising such a congress was a breakthrough in itself, they offered few clues as to what solutions it might bring. A first step could be the development of a database, under the auspices of Interpol, to help fill the lack of reliable statistics for counterfeiting, which is estimated to affect more than 6 per cent of world trade.
According to the World Health Organisation, counterfeit drugs account for about 10 per cent of pharmaceuticals worldwide. Meanwhile, clothing and footwear companies lose euro 7.5bn a year to counterfeiting in Europe, according to the World Customs Organisation. Yet while companies are the main victims of counterfeiting, they are often reluctant to disclose such facts.
Rita Hayes, deputy director general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, said: "The private sector has to let us know exactly what we're looking for. How do you get governments to pay attention if you don't have good statistics?"
Source: Financial Express
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