Officials lack motivation to fight counterfeiting

Dubai: Counterfeiting remains a growing problem in various economies today because government officials are not motivated enough to wage an all-out war against it.

This point was made on Sunday by David Benjamin, co-chair of the Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy at the Fourth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy in Dubai.

"To me, what has been clearly lacking from the government sector is involvement of the CEOs of our governments.

"We haven't motivated our leaders to take the steps that must be taken. We must have government leadership," Benjamin told the more than 1,000 delegates from 90 countries.

"In its simplest form, counterfeiting and piracy is driven by high profits and low risks, both of which can only be remedied by sound legal structures and effective enforcement.

"Policymakers must stand up and make Intellectual Property (IP) enforcement a priority. They must put in place strong laws and penalties," Benjamin added.

The congress seeks to put more teeth into the worldwide campaign against the trade in fake goods and the infringement of intellectual property rights.

"It is expected to identify concrete solutions to the global problems generated by the growth in counterfeiting and piracy and to further raise awareness of the serious impact this illegal trade has on the health and safety of consumers," said WCO Secretary-General Michel Danet.

Michael Keplinger, dep-uty director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, said that based on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's 2007 report, there is an "alarming expansion" in the types of products that are now targets of illicit trade.

Keplinger said the trade in life-threatening counterfeit medicines has been estimated to account for 30 per cent of sales in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He said global sales of fake medicines will rise to about $75 billion by 2010, an increase of 90 per cent from 2005.

Quoting a 2007 report by the OECD, the European Union's Head of Intellectual Property, Luc Devigne said the global market for fake products could be as high as $200 billion a year.

Europe has witnessed a 500 per cent annual increase in the number of counterfeit medicines, the most traded fake product in the region.