RFID and AIDC News: Northwestern University Researchers Claim Breakthrough in Invisible Inks to Thwart Counterfeiting
Researchers and brand companies have been chasing the use of various types of invisible inks to thwart counterfeiting for more than two decades. SCDigest editor Dan Gilmore, for example, says he was tangentially connected to a research project on invisible inks for product verification led by the well-known Battelle Institute in Columbus, OH in the mid-1990s, and research has continued on ever since.
Each application of the ink can be made with a custom formula known only to the producer, which makes it especially hard to copy and suitable for precise identification techniques.
In fact, the idea to identify true goods from counterfeit ones goes back at least until the 13th century, when watermarks were invented to authenticate original documents. Ever since then, printers and forgers/counterfeiters have been in an arms race to out-do each other.
http://www.scdigest.com/ontarget/15-05-07-1.php?cid=9268&ctype=content
Lear MoreOrleans sheriff’s deputy arrested, accused of smuggling drugs, tobacco into OPP
FAKE products are costing the country Sh60 billion annually in lost revenue, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has said. Newsly appointed Kebs chairman Lucas Maitha said yesterday that trade of counterfeits has become rampant leading to huge losses in the economy. Consequently, he said, Kebs has stepped up the war on illegal and fake goods by appointing a 50-member team which will conduct market surveillance in all counties.
Maitha was speaking during a meeting with the business community in Kilifi.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201505060136.html
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Fake privacy gadgets, from Anonabox to Sever: Fighting a strange and profitable epidemic
Digital privacy and security took center stage in 2013, when we learned the extent of government surveillance on citizens under the Patriot Act. This paved the way for the success of privacy and security focused gadgets such as Blackphone, which received $30 million in investment before a prototype was even made.Combined with increasing public concern about hacking and security, a never-ending wave of too-good-to-be-true privacy gadgets have been raking in the dough through crowdfunding websites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter.None in the wave of magic gadgets has yet to deliver a single working product — and funders are getting restless.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-sad-strange-and-profitable-fake-privacy-gadget-epidemic/
Lear MoreOfficials vow to stamp out counterfeiting
Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said commercial fraud and counterfeiting have serious impacts on consumer health and safety.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the 4th Arab Forum on Combating Commercial Fraud and Counterfeiting in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Al-Assaf outlined the reasons behind commercial fraud and counterfeiting and their negative effects on the economy. The minister added that the forum is an extension of the efforts of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to protect the rights of consumers and producers besides maintaining transparency in all manufactured items.
NHSRC Poised To Enact Controversial Cigarette Warning Label
A coalition of health and labor groups on Monday submitted a pair of initiatives for the 2016 ballot to raise the state’s tobacco tax by $2 a pack, perhaps an acknowledgment that a similar effort moving through the Legislature will ultimately be scuttled. Save Lives California, including the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, California Medical Association and SEIU California, filed two measures with the Attorney General’s Office for titles and summaries. Backers will likely decide later which one to take to the streets for signatures and a place on the ballot. One measure allows state tax officials to impose an equivalent tax on electronic cigarettes.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article20223633.html
Lear MoreKenya: Counterfeits Costing Kenya Sh60 Billion Per Year
FAKE products are costing the country Sh60 billion annually in lost revenue, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has said. Newsly appointed Kebs chairman Lucas Maitha said yesterday that trade of counterfeits has become rampant leading to huge losses in the economy. Consequently, he said, Kebs has stepped up the war on illegal and fake goods by appointing a 50-member team which will conduct market surveillance in all counties.
Maitha was speaking during a meeting with the business community in Kilifi.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201505060136.html
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Except petroleum, no sector saw growth in excise duty collections in FY14: CAG
Petroleum products are the only category that showed a growth in excise duty collections during FY14, on a year-on-year. These products comprised 53 per cent of the total excise duty mop-up in the year, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said on Tuesday.The other industrial categories such as iron & steel, cement, motor vehicles, and chemical products showed a contraction, CAG said in its report on indirect taxes tabled in Parliament.
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DataDot Technology partners with Vietnam to foil counterfeiters
(ASX:DDT) should trade higher after the appointment of the Vietnam Institute of Anti-Counterfeiting Technology as agent for DataDot DNA and DataTraceDNA products in Vietnam. The Vietnam Institute of Anti-Counterfeiting Technology is the scientific and technological research arm of the Association of Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection Vietnam.
The Association, with 180 business enterprises, is policy adviser to the Government for the prevention and detection of counterfeiting and piracy.
It operates in collaboration with the Institute of Criminal Science and law enforcement agencies.
Beware the Fairtrade fraudsters: Shoppers warned to watch out for produce with fake labels as criminals attempt to cash in on premiums on ‘ethical’ goods
Middle class shoppers are being targeted by fraudsters selling fake organic and Fairtrade goods, according to new research.
The numbers of people willing to pay a premium price for what they believe is an ‘ethical’ product has soared in recent years.
Now a new report has found that criminal gangs are able to make ‘enormous profits’ by targeting well-meaning shoppers who are happy to pay more to ensure that the people producing their goods are not exploited.
Smuggling threatening economy
WITH Zambia actively exploring opportunities to diversify the economy, focus is shifting from the mining sector to alternative industries that will contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
Agriculture has long been tipped as a significant catalyst for Zambia’s economic growth, given the land and water resources that are abundant across the country.
Within agriculture, the tobacco industry stands out as one of the most promising in the country’s economic growth.
https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=28430
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