The World Customs Organization (WCO) reiterated the important role customs administrations play in the global fight against counterfeiting and piracy and the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) at borders.
The WCO issued the reminder on April 26 to mark World Intellectual Property Day 2017, which has for this year the theme “Innovations – Improving Lives.”
In a statement, WCO noted that counterfeiting and piracy is growing steadily, and the threat it poses to the global economy and to society is also increasing, causing concern to all industry sectors as “counterfeit and pirated products are now widespread and contaminate legal markets across the globe.”
It added that customs administrations have the responsibility of protecting national borders from such illegal flow of counterfeit and pirated goods, as well as other illicit products, and such task is not easy.
“Faced with intense globalization, international trade and global supply chains are significantly more complex than ever before, posing a constant challenge to Customs authorities around the world as they strive to achieve a balance between regulating and facilitating trade.”
This balancing act, it added, includes protecting the IPR of goods being shipped globally in order to protect society from harmful counterfeit goods entering the market while not impeding the flow of genuine merchandise.
“Intellectual property is crucial to the growth of our society as it fosters innovation and modernization in countless areas such as medicines, transportation, energy and ICT to name a few,” said WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya.
“On this special day, I would like to reaffirm the WCO’s dedication to protecting artistic creation and preserving a vibrant industrial fabric by actively engaging and leading Customs in the global fight against counterfeiting and piracy.”
The WCO said that through its IPR, Health and Safety Programme, it wages its fight against counterfeiting and piracy each year. In 2016 alone, the organization carried out IPR-related capacity-building activities in some 62 countries covering all six WCO regions of the world.
The WCO also coordinated two main enforcement operations in 2016: Seascape and ACIM.
Seascape, an initiative within the Americas region aimed at curbing the counterfeiting trade phenomenon before the inauguration of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016, registered a total seizure of 4.6 million articles including clothing, accessories, and games.
ACIM, which mobilized 16 customs administrations in the African region to fight against illicit medicines, resulted in some 129 million articles detained last year, most of them illicit pharmaceutical products.
Photo courtesy of WCO
