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Police Officers Training- Capacity Building Programme, New Delhi

3/8/2015 | Specialized Training Center, Rajender Nagar Police Station,New Delhi

The Police department is the primary law enforcement agency. It administers the Government’s economic, trade and tariff policies, handles international traffic of imports & exports, and aids to minimize demerit goods from augmenting in the markets. With low barriers to market entry and infiltration, the Police play a very significant role in ensuring and enforcing the protection of right owners. Keeping the above in view, FICCI CASCADE organized a training programme for the Delhi Police officers on August 03, 2015 at the Rajender Nagar Police Station, New Delhi, with an objective of equipping the police officers to understand and take requisite action against counterfeiters and smugglers.

Mr. Suvashish Chaudhary, IPS, Principal, PTC , the Chief Guest at the programme, emphasized that the police had a significant role in fighting the menace of smuggling and counterfeiting. He stated that although counterfeiting was looked at as a victimless crime, it had many far-reaching consequences and it was extremely important for a police officer to understand the consequences before taking actions on ground. Only then will an officer investigating a case related to smuggling and counterfeiting be able to understand and take suitable actions. He further added that protection of rights takes a key role given the emphasis on the current ’Make in India’ campaign. Hence, awareness generation on counterfeit and smuggled items is a must as this will act as a deterrent to the illicit market operations and give fillip to the economy.

Mr. Deep Chand, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE, in his address informed about FICCI CASCADE’s mandate of capacity building of law enforcement agencies including for Judges, Police and Customs Officers, and how CASCADE had been working extensively in this area nationally. The emphasis was on organizing training programmes and seminars along with continuous interactions with the law enforcement authorities to underline the importance of increased awareness on the serious problem of counterfeit and smuggled goods.

Mr. Chand correlated smuggling and counterfeiting activity with the security challenge in different environments around the world. He cited that illicit trade especially in two product categories i.e. tobacco and alcohol were being increasingly used to fund anti-social and terrorist activities. Mr. Chand also observed that the need of the hour was tangible actions to increase enforcement, and to impose increased punishments. This was imperative to reassure legitimate business owners and consumers that the government was serious about protecting right owners which, in turn, would elicit greater support for government policies.

The training programme was attended by over 50 police officers and provided a useful platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences in the enforcement of laws and practices while dealing with counterfeiters and smugglers. The speakers deliberated on the various aspects that a police officer is needed to keep in mind while investigating cases of smuggling and counterfeiting, including: Legal Provisions to Offences & Penalties for Counterfeiting and Smuggling, Provisions under Patents, Design, Trademarks and Geographical Indications Acts and Practical know-how of Investigation of IP and related Economic Crimes. Other significant areas of discussion included on Tax Arbitrage – Grey Market Operation and Global trends of investigations in counterfeits and their enforcement.

The speakers at the programme included Mr. Mangesh Kashyap, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, IPR, Economic Offence Wing, Delhi Police, Dr. Alka Chawla, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi and Advisor, FICCI Intellectual Property Education Centre, Dr. Prithpal Kaur Assistant Registrar TMR, Patent Office, New Delhi, Mr. Sachin Gupta, Associate Partner, Inttl Advocare and Mr. Kunal Gupta, Executive Director, Grant Thornton India LLP. The participating police personnel found the presentations constructive and interacted actively with the speakers.

Counterfeiting – Damages, Responsibilities And Solutions

Diesel recently announced that they have won a lawsuit against Cosmos World after a battle of 16 years spent fighting against the Spanish company that manufactured and sold counterfeited Diesel products in European and in Southern American countries. The business of counterfeiting appears like a huge iceberg whose size is hard to imagine because final responsibilities are hidden and hard to punish. Especially during the summer season, for instance on Italian beaches, one might be persuaded into buying counterfeited products from non-European peddlers running back and forth carrying loads of merchandise under the sun. Some “bestsellers” may include Stella McCartney bags sold at €170, fake Louis Vuitton items at €80, Hogan bags at €40, Moncler jackets for €60 and Napapjjri sweatshirts for €15. Anyone might think that, while helping someone in difficulty, he or she could get a good bargain for a “branded” product. Despite this, the consumer is not always aware that the product is not genuine or produced employing the brand name dishonestly and in some cases manufactured with materials and under conditions that can even damage one’s health. And it is very likely that the person selling those products is also seriously exploited by dishonest people and organizations – as the whole business behind counterfeiting.

Counterfeiting: The Rising Threat to Electronics Manufacturers (and Enterprise Labeling as the First Line of Defense)

As a serious challenge to today’s global electronics supply chain, counterfeiting and gray market diversion of electronics components threaten the integrity of products for manufacturers. Counterfeits and obsolete electronics components contribute to dangerous business exposure for manufacturer’s customers, and compromise health and safety for consumers. Clearly, new solutions are needed to improve electronics supply chain integrity and stability.  Although unit item serialization is one of the most powerful anti-counterfeiting and anti-diversion measures available today, many manufacturers lack standardized, automated, enterprise-wide labeling solutions as a foundation upon which serialization can be implemented efficiently and cost effectively. This is because many large electronics organizations, their suppliers, and their distributors still rely on a mish mash of 3rd party and homegrown barcode labeling systems. Serialization technology cannot be applied consistently or affordably throughout a non-standardized labeling environment. However, Enterprise Labeling Solutions can provide the first line of defense in today’s complex high technology electronics distribution environment.

Authorities fear illicit tobacco trade is moving from Gloucester shops to ‘tab houses’ on estates

Fears have been raised that the war on illicit tobacco could soon take a sinister new twist after £20,000-worth of the stuff was found in a home in the Forest of Dean. The surprise discovery in Coleford means the trade could be moving from corner shops to “tab houses” in residential areas. Until now, most of the illegal tobacco in the region has been sold under the counter at city centre shops. But in some areas of the north cigarettes sold from private homes at pocket money prices have been blamed for creating a new generation of young smokers.