Socio-economic Impact of Illicit Trade Smugglers switching over to low-risk, high-reward goods like cigarettes and fabric/silk yarn – FICCI report.
FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) in association with the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Tax and Narcotics, (NACIN) organized a capacity building programme on the ‘Socio-Economic Impact of Illicit Trade’ on September 26 at NACIN, Faridabad. The objective was to sensitize officers of Indian Revenue Service on the ill effects of illicit trade.
Ms. Reena Arya, Additional Director General, NACIN, Chief Guest at the programme, stated that illicit trade was a global problem of enormous scale, impacting human lives and virtually every industry sector around the world. India was no exception, suffering significant economic and health & safety consequences as a result of widespread smuggling and counterfeiting in the country.
Nigeria: Govt Urged to Step Up Fight Against Counterfeiting
The federal government has been urged to intensify its effort in the fight against the influx of counterfeit products in the country.
This was even as investors within and outside Nigeria has expressed displeasure over the huge losses being incurred on a daily basis due to fake manufacturers, despite government commitment to curb their menace.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201506190687.html
Watch out for fake Samsung phones
Samsung has asked users to be wary of counterfeit devices with the firm’s branding.”If the purchase price is too good to be true, then it probably is. For example, if a Samsung Galaxy smartphone is found on sale at a much reduced price, we urge consumers to check with our customer care centresbefore purchasing the device, or else they may be left with a fake product,” said Richard Chetty, Service Director at Samsung Electronics South Africa.
Lear MoreCombating Sale of Counterfeit and Falsified Medicines Online: A Losing Battle
The rapid growth of technology has transformed many brick-and-mortar businesses into online businesses, and medicines are now being sold over the internet. Influenced by the notions that online purchases are economical and do not require a prescription, the general public are keen to purchase medicine online through websites, social media and mobile apps. Online medicine purchase is presumed to be convenient and confidential, free from embarrassment of sharing personal and sensitive health information to a healthcare professional. Public in United States, Europe, Australia is generally aware that internet sales form part of the official medicines distribution channels, often a valid prescription is required for controlled medicine. However, unlicensed, substandard and falsified medicines with various dubious medical claims are advertised and sold illegally in many rogue online pharmacies (Jack, 2016). These include medications for weight loss, hair growth, and treatment of erectile dysfunction. Such medicines are termed as substandard, spurious, falsely labeled, falsified and counterfeit medical products by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Similarly, the European Commission defines such products as falsified medicines or fake medicines that pass themselves off as real, authorized medicines (European Commission, 2016). These medicines may contain substandard active ingredients, which are low quality and/or an incorrect amount, either too high or too low, and have not been properly evaluated by authorities in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy. It must be noted that falsified medicines are often confused with counterfeit medicines. According to European Commission, counterfeit medicines refers to medicines that do not comply with European Union law on intellectual and industrial property rights, for example, unregistered medicines sourced from parallel import (European Medicines Agency1). In this article, the illegal sales of both counterfeit and falsified medicines (CFMs) are discussed.
In 2012, the WHO estimated the CFMs industry to be worth USD 431 billion a year, but further estimates has not been reported in the recent years due to the fast growing, widespread practice of this industry, making it impractical to estimate on a global scale (Garrett,
2012). Authorities are finding it difficult to curb CFMs due to the lack of governance over the internet. Furthermore, fragmented cybercrime legislation leads to large substantive and procedural lacunae in law, rendering law enforcement efforts useless.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5432535/
Lear MoreCombating Sale of Counterfeit and Falsified Medicines Online: A Losing Battle
The rapid growth of technology has transformed many brick-and-mortar businesses into online businesses, and medicines are now being sold over the internet. Influenced by the notions that online purchases are economical and do not require a prescription, the general public are keen to purchase medicine online through websites, social media and mobile apps. Online medicine purchase is presumed to be convenient and confidential, free from embarrassment of sharing personal and sensitive health information to a healthcare professional. Public in United States, Europe, Australia is generally aware that internet sales form part of the official medicines distribution channels, often a valid prescription is required for controlled medicine. However, unlicensed, substandard and falsified medicines with various dubious medical claims are advertised and sold illegally in many rogue online pharmacies (Jack, 2016). These include medications for weight loss, hair growth, and treatment of erectile dysfunction. Such medicines are termed as substandard, spurious, falsely labeled, falsified and counterfeit medical products by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Similarly, the European Commission defines such products as falsified medicines or fake medicines that pass themselves off as real, authorized medicines (European Commission, 2016). These medicines may contain substandard active ingredients, which are low quality and/or an incorrect amount, either too high or too low, and have not been properly evaluated by authorities in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy. It must be noted that falsified medicines are often confused with counterfeit medicines. According to European Commission, counterfeit medicines refers to medicines that do not comply with European Union law on intellectual and industrial property rights, for example, unregistered medicines sourced from parallel import (European Medicines Agency1). In this article, the illegal sales of both counterfeit and falsified medicines (CFMs) are discussed.
In 2012, the WHO estimated the CFMs industry to be worth USD 431 billion a year, but further estimates has not been reported in the recent years due to the fast growing, widespread practice of this industry, making it impractical to estimate on a global scale (Garrett,
2012). Authorities are finding it difficult to curb CFMs due to the lack of governance over the internet. Furthermore, fragmented cybercrime legislation leads to large substantive and procedural lacunae in law, rendering law enforcement efforts useless.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5432535/
Lear MoreComprehensive Study of a Handheld Raman Spectrometer for the Analysis of Counterfeits of Solid-Dosage Form Medicines
The fight against medicine counterfeiting is a current focus of the pharmaceutical world. Reliable analytical tools are needed to pursue the counterfeiters. Handheld devices present the advantage of providing quick results, with analyses possibly performed on the field. A large number of solid-dosage form medicines have been analyzed with a handheld Raman spectrometer. 33 out of 39 product families could be successfully analysed. The methods were validated with 100% of correct identification. Each product was additionally tested by the methods of the other products and successfully rejected. A second validation was performed using counterfeits, placebos, and generics. All the counterfeits were rejected, with values close to zero. Some generics presented a similar formulation to the brand products and were then identified as such. One placebo was positively identified, showing that low dosage products are difficult to analyze with Raman. Robustness tests were carried out, showing, for instance, that the operator has no influence on the results and that the analyses might be performed through transparent packaging. The discovery mode was also investigated, which proposes the chemical composition of the samples. The results demonstrated that the Raman handheld device is a reliable tool for the field analysis of counterfeits.
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jspec/2017/3154035/
Lear MorePublic health interventions to protect against falsified medicines: a systematic review of international, national and local policies.
Accurate definitions of poor quality medicines are essential. The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the umbrella term, ‘Substandard/Spurious/Falsely labelled/Falsified/Counterfeit medical products’ (SSFFC ( World Health Organization 2016a ), sometimes shortened to SFFC), though there is no universally agreed definition for this. Previously, WHO defined ‘counterfeit’ medicines as being, ‘deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source’ (World Health Organization 2016a ). However, it has been argued that the causes and solutions of the constituent problems in the SSFFC grouping are different ( Newtonet al. 2011a ; Attaran et al. 2012 ); in particular, ‘counterfeit’ should not be conflated with falsified and substandard, as this may shift focus away from public health issues and more towards intellectual property (IP) concerns ( Newton et al. 2011a ). We use the term ‘ unregistered generic’ to refer to safe and effective medication manufactured without proper IP law authorisation. This is a legal and economic problem but does not pose a direct threat to public health and is not a major focus in this review. In contrast, ‘ substandard ’ drugs are, ‘genuine medicines produced by manufacturers authorised by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) which do not meet quality specifications set for them by National standards’ ( World Health Organization, 2016a ). ‘Degraded ’ medicines were of adequate quality when they left the factory but have subsequently degraded, for example through inadequate storage or transport conditions ( Newton et al. 2009 ). We use ‘ falsified ’ to refer to medicines that have been fraudulently produced and distributed and which do not meet the quality specifications for that drug—these are the primary focus of this review. Lastly, we use the term ‘ poor quality ’ to refer collectively to falsified, substandard and degraded medicines, which all pose serious threats to public health.
Poor quality medicines directly harm patients by denying them access to potentially life-saving active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), or exposing them to toxins. It was recently estimated that 122 350 deaths in children under 5 years old in Sub-Saharan Africa were attributable to poor quality antimalarials in 2013 ( Renschler et al. 2015 ), representing 3.75% of all under-five child deaths in the region. Poor quality medicines also have pernicious consequences for communities and healthcare systems ( Newton et al. 2006b , 2010 ; Mackey and Liang 2011 ;Karunamoorthi 2014 ), causing lack of faith in healthcare amongst local people and providing a source of funding for organised crime networks. Of broadest consequence is the potential to promote antimicrobial resistance (AMR), now recognised as a major threat to global public health ( Pisani 2015 ).
https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article/31/10/1448/2567085
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UK sees surge in illegal cigarettes
Consumption of counterfeit and contraband cigarettes in the UK surged by almost 50% in 2014, costing the government about £2bn in lost tax revenue, according to a new report.
The surge was driven by an increase in black market tobacco from Belarus and Pakistan, which now – along with Poland – produce one-in-two illegal cigarettes coming into the UK. The Fest brand from Belarus now accounts for 40% of “illicit whites” – cigarettes produced legally in one market but destined primarily for smuggling – coming into the UK.
http://www.talkingretail.com/category-news/independent-news/uk-sees-surge-illegal-cigarettes/
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75,000 counterfeit sunglasses seized at Mumbai port
At least 75,000 counterfeit sunglasses of top brands were seized by the Customs department at the city port terminal. The investigating officials said that the seized sunglasses are counterfeits of various brands including Ray Ban, Prada, and Lacoste. The seized consignment was part of a container which arrived from China last week. The officials said that the seizure was made based on specific inputs. “If sold in the open market as originals, the estimated worth of the consignment was around Rs 25 crore,” the official said.
The sources said that of the total 75,000 pieces , over 73,000 fake sunglasses carried the logo of Ray Ban company. The consignment was imported by a company called Genius Trading Company.
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-75000-counterfeit-sunglasses-seized-at-mumbai-port-2077580
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WHITEPAPER – Anti-Counterfeiting Measures: RFID is The New Weapon in the Fight Against Counterfeiting
According to recent estimates from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), counterfeit goods may cost the economy up to $250 billion a year (1). This is a global epidemic to be sure, with several millions of these products being shipped to the United States every year.
Often when we think of counterfeit items, consumer goods such as high-end jewelry or handbags come to mind. Not only does this cost retailers billions of dollars each year, but we as consumers are also at risk. Imagine lacing up your brand new Air Jordan’s before a game only to realize that you paid the top-dollar for knockoffs worth only a fraction of their cost to you. Frustrating to say the least. Maddening if you think about it long enough. How about life-threatening? Probably a bridge too far for a pair of sneakers, but counterfeiting effects industries that can have a direct impact on our health and safety, as well.
In this paper, we’ll highlight some of the major counterfeiting problem areas, particularly in the healthcare and medical industries, and discuss how RFID is gaining popularity as a top anti-counterfeiting measure.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized nearly $80 million in counterfeit pharmaceuticals and personal care products last year (2). In this case, counterfeiting can have life-threatening consequences especially in developing countries that lack the regulatory and policing resources of the United States. For instance, The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 200,000 people die each year due to ineffective and substandard malaria drugs that don’t clear a patient’s system of the active parasite.
Wealthy countries are also at risk. Although, many counterfeited drugs in North America can be categorized as “lifestyle” drugs such as Viagra, rather than life-saving drugs, some claim that the legitimate supply chain has been compromised. Roger Bate, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and expert on counterfeit prescription drugs says “You could go into a CVS or a Walgreens to fill your prescription for whatever it may be—it could be for a heart medication, a cancer drug, an antibiotic—and you could be killed by that medicine.”
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