“Trade in counterfeit goods is a big problem and getting bigger,” said John Dryden, Deputy Director of the OECD’s Science, Technology and Industry Directorate. “It is pervasive, it involves some pretty unsavoury and ruthless characters, and it has serious implications for health, safety, living standards and jobs. It is also a major disincentive to invent and innovate.”
Fake goods are being produced and consumed in most economies, with Asia emerging as the main region for such trade and China as the single largest source of production. The nature of pirated goods varies from market to market, with the main market for counterfeit car parts, for example, being in the Middle East, while consumption of counterfeit tobacco products is highest in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Counterfeit drugs are a major problem in Africa and there have been big seizures in Europe and North America. Counterfeit electrical components, food and drink and household products are appearing worldwide, with Africa, Asia and Latin America key regional markets.
The OECD report makes a number of recommendations for ways to address these issues:
* Increase enforcement of existing laws;
* Further strengthen co-operation between governments and industry to make current policies more effective and help identify new strategies to fight counterfeiting;
* Strengthen criminal penalties to deter criminals and toughen sanctions to more effectively redress the harm caused to rights holders;
* Educate consumers to raise public awareness of the growing threat to health and safety of substandard counterfeited products.
One of the biggest challenges facing governments and business is getting reliable and up to date information on the extent of counterfeiting and piracy and the impact on economies. The OECD recommends governments and business invest more in collecting and analysing information; agree a common approach to collecting enforcement data and develop a framework to report the health and safety effects.
