Press Release

[Index]

COUNTERFEIT GOODS ENDANGER LIFE AND COST THE ECONOMY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

UNECE Approves Countermeasure

Geneva, 6 November 2007 -- The increasing presence of counterfeit goods on the market is costing governments and legitimate traders billions of dollars annually in lost revenues. Speaking at this week’s UNECE International Seminar on Product Safety and Counterfeiting, an OECD representative said that the problem of counterfeiting is growing both in scope and magnitude and has a broad range of effects on health, safety and the economy.

While the overall extent of counterfeiting is unknown, OECD estimates based on Customs seizures suggest that up to US$ 200 billion of international trade in 2005 was in counterfeit or pirated products. This figure could be several hundred billion dollars higher if domestically produced products are included.

As well as the economic impact, counterfeit products or goods with counterfeit conformity assessment marks can also represent serious health and safety problems. Such products include adulterated or contaminated food, hazardous toys, falsified electrical goods and spare parts for cars. The World Health Organization has identified counterfeit medicines as an enormous threat to health, potentially causing serious harm to patients and sometimes leading to death.

The Seminar, which was organized by the UNECE Working Party 6 on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies, was attended by representatives of over 30 countries and international organizations. Presentations were made by leading international organizations in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy and examples were provided of the current approaches taken by both the private sector and governments in developed, developing and transition economies in tackling the problem.

Emphasizing UNECE’s commitment to counter these trends and complement existing work in the area, Mr. Christer Arvius, Chair of UNECE Working Party 6, announced that the UNECE Market Surveillance (MARS) Group of Working Party 6 has prepared a Recommendation to Governments on counterfeiting. It recommends that Governments use their market surveillance infrastructure as a complementary means, wherever feasible and the national legal framework permits, to identify suspected counterfeit goods on the domestic market during normal market surveillance activities.

The Recommendation, entitled “Use of Market Surveillance Infrastructure as a Complementary Means to Protect Consumers and Users Against Counterfeit Goods” (Recommendation M), would entail minimum additional costs and delays in existing market surveillance activities and would be a very effective addition to existing measures to combat counterfeiting.

There are already some successful experiences in using this approach. In Ukraine, for example, the authorities, working together some years ago with Procter and Gamble, successfully detected and destroyed a lucrative market in counterfeit “Procter and Gamble” products. The company found that a staggering 43 per cent of the hair-care products and 23 per cent of the laundry products marketed under its name were counterfeit. As a result of an intense campaign consisting of public confidence-building and deploying mobile testing laboratories for on-the-spot testing for suspect products, the company, jointly with the Ukrainian market surveillance authorities, succeeded in completely eliminating the counterfeit products.

Participants at the Seminar expressed strong support for the Recommendation and felt that it would be a welcome addition in the fight against counterfeiting.

For further information please contact :

Mr. Tom Butterly
Secretary to UNECE Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation
and Standardization Policies (WP.6)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations, office 441
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 11 78
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 06 29
E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.unece.org/trade/welcome.htm

For information on UNECE Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6): http://www.unece.org/trade/wp6/welcome.htm

For information on the “MARS” Group: http://www.unece.org/trade/wp6/sectoral/mars/mars_bkgrd.htm