Socio-economic impact of Counterfeiting and Smuggling Capacity Building Programme, Faridabad
18/6/2014 | Faridabad
FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) in association with the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics, (NACEN) organized a capacity building programme on the ‘Socio-Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Smuggling’ on June 18 at NACEN, Faridabad. The objective was to sensitize trainee officers of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) on the ill effects of counterfeiting and smuggling on the economy, and on the society as a whole.
Dr. G. Sreekumar Menon (IRS), Director General, NACEN, the Chief Guest at the programme, in his welcome remarks he stated that counterfeiting and smuggling wa a global problem of enormous scale, impacting human lives and virtually every industry sector around the world. India wa no exception, suffering significant economic and health & safety consequences as a result of widespread counterfeiting, piracy and smuggling in the country. Dr. Menon urged industry to make their products and services optimally priced so that consumers did not fall into the trap of the counterfeit and smuggled market.
Mr. P.C. Jha, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE and Ex-Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs gave a detailed overview on the Socio-Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Smuggling. In his presentation Mr. Jha highlighted FICCI CASCADE’s initiatives to curb smuggling and counterfeiting through various awareness programmes engaging industry, policy makers, law enforcement officials, voluntary organizations, the youth and consumer at large. He added that that one of FICCI CASCADE’s mandates was capacity building of law enforcement agencies including for Judges, Police and Customs Officers and CASCADE has been working extensively in this area nationally, organizing training programmes and seminars along with continuous Interactions with the law enforcement authorities to emphasize on the importance of continued awareness and seriousness of the impact of counterfeit and smuggled goods.
Dr. Alka Chawla, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi and Advisor, FICCI Intellectual Property Education Centre made a comprehensive overview on Intellectual Property – Scope of Rights and Enforcement. Key suggestions indicated by Dr. Chawla included Special Anti-piracy Tribunal; vigorous training of enforcement officials; Centralized National Body with power to enforce cross borders, among others.
Mr. Ravi Mathur, Chief Executive Officer, GS1, India talked about stopping counterfeits at borders. Mr. Mathur stated that Customs authorities were at the front line in the fight against counterfeiting and accounted for 70% of seizures in the world. He emphasized on a three point solution to address the issue:
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Adoption of anti-counterfeit technologies to enable product authentication at packaging level
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Implementation of Traceability System to enhance visibility across supply chains
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Global engagement among regulators, standards bodies, industry and other supply chain stake-holders to ensure safe trade across borders
Mr. Mathur also briefed the participants on IPM (Interface Public Members), WCO’s tool against counterfeiting and suggested Indian Customs to implement IPM module to facilitate instant access and cross-checking of marking/labeling by Customs officials during inspection on cartons consignments with product information provided by rights holders.
Ms. Anshika Jha, Senior Intellectual Property Adviser, UK Intellectual Property Office, New Delhi took the participants through International Best Practices for Curbing Counterfeiting and Smuggling, highlighting key players and initiatives in the process of UK Intellectual property enforcement.
Subsequently, representatives from three leading industry organizations, Hewlett-Packard, Beiersdorf and Pfizer shared their insights on how they handled counterfeiting and smuggling in their respective industries, and interacted actively with the officers on the ways and means to counter the issue.
Mr. Shakil Ahmed, Head Global Security, South Asia, Pfizer stated that pharmaceutical counterfeiting was on the rise around the globe, potentially putting at risk the health of millions of patients. Spurious medicines posed a threat to patient health and safety due to the conditions under which they were manufactured and the lack of regulation of their contents. Despite the conditions under which they were manufactured, spurious medicines were virtually indistinguishable from the authentic medicines they pretended to be. Mr. Ahmed shared with the participants alarming examples and instances of counterfeit products of Pfizer along with counterfeit risk indicators and informed how their global security team was addressing the issue.
Mr. Anubhav Jain, Anti-Counterfeit I&E Manager, Hewlett-Packard informed that HP has created and invested in a variety of brand protection measures and anti-counterfeit programs. HP operates these programs globally and makes effort to provide awareness information to law enforcement that will facilitate the identification of illicit and infringing products in the marketplace. Mr. Jain emphasized that HP was committed to working with law enforcement to deter any and all attacks on its products and brand.
Mr. Santosh Dwivedi, Senior Investigator and Consultant, Beiersdorf shared the Nivea story. Mr. Dwivedi stated that in a recent seize a total of 582,000 counterfeit products were confiscated with a market value at wholesale price of over 2 crores in Mumbai, which was the largest seizure of counterfeits for Beiersdorf till date. Mr. Dwivedi also pointed out differentiators to indentify original and counterfeit products along with possible indicators of counterfeit consignments.
Mr. Dipankar Barkakati, Additional Director, FICCI proposed the Vote of Thanks.
The capacity building programme was attended by over 120 officers of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), in day-long interactive event.
Lear MoreWorld Anti Counterfeiting Day, New Delhi
5/06/2014 | New Delhi
FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) celebrated excellence on World Anti Counterfeiting Day on June 05, 2014 at FICCI by recognizing best performing officers from Delhi Police and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for their distinguished work in handling cases related to counterfeiting and smuggling. Sub Inspector, Sandeep Kumar from Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police was awarded Best Investigation Officer, Delhi Police for his exceptional skills in investigation of counterfeiting and smuggling activities. In the last six months Mr. Kumar had seized articles of estimated value of Rs. 7,70,000/- approximately. Mr. M. Arun Kanth, Deputy Director, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Chennai Zonal Unit was awarded Best Performing Officer from DRI for his distinguished work in enforcement of anti counterfeiting and anti – smuggling laws. FICCI CASCADE also awarded winners of the Interschool and intercollegiate elocution competition ‘Youth Against Counterfeiting and Smuggling’ which was held earlier this month. Mr. Manoj Kumar Parida, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, Chief Guest at the event felicitated the winners. While addressing the programme, Mr. Parida urged the stakeholders to join hands to ensure that quality and originality of the product is assured and punishment is meted out to the defaulters. He said that the consumers must be convinced against buying fake and cheap products and deterrent punishments must be awarded to defaulters and those indulging in counterfeiting. The programme was attended by senior officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Customs, Delhi Police and Industry members.
Lear MoreElocution Competition: Youth Against Counterfeiting And Smuggling, New Delhi
12/05/2014 | New Delhi
With the unrelenting growth of illicit trade through counterfeiting and smuggling, FICCI CASCADE has been continuously campaigning against these activities. However, as the problem of counterfeiting and smuggling has led to more financial, economic and social crisis, we now need to revisit, rethink and test new approaches to this socio-economic challenge.
FICCI CASCADE has started a youth movement across the country to spread awareness among the young minds and seek their support to underpin the fight against counterfeiting and smuggling. Such a movement has offered the opportunity to bring in more people, particularly youngsters to push forward its actions to curb counterfeiting and smuggling.
In order to pick the brain of the youth, FICCI CASCADE organised an on-the-spot Elocution Competition for students on the theme “Youth Against Counterfeiting and Smuggling” on 12th May, 2014 at 10:00 am at FICCI Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi.
The key objective of the competition was to inspire the youth to take required actions to discourage and stop the purchase of counterfeit and smuggled goods.
The contest witnessed enthusiastic and active participation of 60+ school and college students most of whom were very impressive in expressing their concern on and the need to curb these illegal trade practices. The competition provided a unique stage to the young minds to express their views on diverse issues like “Terrorism Financing through Smuggling”, “India – A Victim of Smuggling”, “India’s Brand Integrity at Stake due to Counterfeiting and Smuggling” etc…
Ms. Oorja Mishra from Basava International School and Ms. Pavneet Kaur from Skyline Business School won the first prizes in the elocution competition in the school and college categories, respectively. All the winners will be felicitated at a formal function on “World Anti Counterfeiting Day 2014” at FICCI with certificates of recognition as well as cash awards.
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Customs Training Programme, Delhi
30/04/2014 | Delhi
Smuggling and counterfeiting in India are growing in scope and magnitude with every passing day. The extent and effects of smuggling and counterfeiting are of such significance that they compel strong and sustained action from governments, enforcement agencies, business, media, legal experts and consumers.
More effective enforcement is critical in this regard, as we need to build public support to combat smuggling and counterfeiting. With this view FICCI CASCADE organised a training program of Customs officers to sensitize them on the menace of smuggling and counterfeiting, in Delhi on 30th April, 2014.
Ms. Neeta Lall Butalia, Commissioner of Customs, Delhi shared her views and insights on the menace of counterfeiting and smuggling. She addressed the gathering and invited FICCI CASCADE to conduct more such training programmes for Customs officials in the future.
Mr. Dipankar Barkakati, Additional Director, FICCI in his special address, highlighted the initiatives taken by FICCI CASCADE so far and emphasised on the need to curb smuggling and counterfeiting by strengthening the legal and regulatory frameworks, enhancing enforcement and generating awareness of the consumers on the need to fight the twin menace.
The training programme was attended by over 35 Customs officials and provided a useful platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences in the detection and prevention of the entry of counterfeit and smuggled goods into the country.
Representatives of Dow Corning, Puma and Burberry gave presentations and exhibited samples of their original products alongside the counterfeit copies. The objective was to highlight the key technical aspects of their products which could facilitate the detection of counterfeit products. The participating Customs officials found the presentations constructive and interacted actively both with the company representatives and among themselves. It was decided that another training session would be organized by FICCI CASCADE for another batch of Customs Officers, in July 2014.
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Roundtable on Copyright Enforcement Tool Kit, New Delhi
29/04/2014 | New Delhi
Delhi Police Commissioner Mr. B S Bassi launched the Copyright Enforcement Tool Kit at FICCI’s ‘Roundtable on Copyright Enforcement Tool Kit’ on April 29, 2014. Addressing the round table, Mr. Bassi emphasized that copyrights are extremely important and must be respected and protected as they encourage innovation and creation. He assured the industry that the police department will protect the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the citizens, and in case of any violation it will investigate the occurrence professionally. He also urged that in the quest for protection of IPR the industry should not prevent dissemination of knowledge which is of society’s good. Mr. Anil Rajput, Senior Vice President-Corporate Affairs, ITC, Chair, FICCI CASCADE Committee and Co-chair, FICCI IP Committee, said that the Tool Kit devised by FICCI is a compilation to assist in understanding the concept of counterfeiting and piracy by giving different modes in which it takes place and the threat it could pose on innovation,national security and competition. The Kit also gives an outline of the regulatory framework for combating counterfeit and piracy in India. He added the document will serve as a ready reckoner to the enforcement officials, which contains all the relevant provisions of law, methodologies to detect counterfeit products and a checklist for the police officials while enforcing copyright with relevant statistics and data. The Kit was developed keeping in view the upsurge of technological developments which has made the protection of intellectual property an imperative issue to foster innovation and economic growth. The police department being the primary law enforcement agency administers the government’s economic, trade and tariff policies, handles international traffic of imports and exports and aids to minimize demerit goods from augmenting in the markets. With low barriers to market entry and infiltration, the police plays a significant role in ensuring and enforcing the protection of copyrights. Hence the need to devise a ready refrencer to assist and apprise the enforcement authorities of the various laws and tools enshrined therein to enforce Copyright Law is imperative. Copyright enforcement is of utmost importance for sustainable growth of the economy, said Mr. Hemant Singh, Managing Partner, INTTL ADVOCARE. Police is the primary law enforcement agency in India. Hence for protecting IPR, the Tool Kit is a step towards assisting the Police, serving as a ready reference for them.
Felicitation of Winners of the FICCI CASCADE Facebook Art Competition on Fake and Smuggled, New Delhi
24/03/2014 | New Delhi
With the idea to involve the creative energies of people on the issue of counterfeiting and smuggling, FICCI CASCADE organised a Facebook Art Competition on Fake and Smuggled Goods. The aim of the competition was to engage people on the issue of counterfeiting & smuggling and deepen their understanding of “grey markets” for counterfeit & smuggled goods and its impact on the society. The competition was announced on the FICCI CASCADE Facebook page on November 21, 2013.
FICCI CASCADE invited entries in the form of posters, slogans, paintings, drawing, comics and caricatures. An overwhelming response of 50 plus entries was received for the competition. The best entries were judged by Mr. Atul Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Govt. of India and Mr. Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE.
The winners were felicitated by Mr. Atul Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Govt. of India on March 24, 2014 at the Federation House, New Delhi.
The winners were as follows:
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First Prize: Ms. Jayanti, Tiwari. Awarded a cash prize of Rs. 35, 000/ –
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Second Prize: Mr. Manash Pratim. Awarded a cash prize of Rs. 25, 000/-
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Third Prize: Ms. Kalyani Nerurkar. Awarded a cash prize of Rs. 15,000/-
People’s Favourite: A separate category was announced where the picture getting maximum likes was awarded a prize money of Rs. 25,000. Mr. Smridh Makkar won this award by getting over 300+ likes on his creativity.
The competition was organised to gain engagement from large cross section of society and to encourage them to voice out their ideas on this issue through creative art work which was successfully received and carried out. This helped in not only empowering communities for action but also strengthening their social responsibility.
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IP Protect Expo – Brand Protection in Action, London
11/3/2014 | London
It has been developed for the industry by the industry to address current issues and solutions for global intellectual property protection. The two day event offers a trade exhibition and conference, focussing on practical aspects of trademark, copyright and design right protection.The event is hosted by ACG http://www.a-cg.
There is also an IP Protection Training Day, run by the ACG, taking place as well on the 11th of March.
Below are links for more details
About the conference : http://www.ip-protectexpo.com/
About the exhibition: http://www.ip-protectexpo.com/the-exhibition.htm
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Customs Training Programme, Mumbai
27/2/2014 | Mumbai
FICCI CASCADE conducted a training programme to sensitize the customs officers to detect and distinguish counterfeit products from the originals in Mumbai on 27th February, 2014.
The aim was to exhibit samples of right holders/ brand owners and counterfeit/s to the customs officers and to give them technical training, i.e., methods by which the officers can detect and distinguish originals from counterfeits and stop the hazards of counterfeiting and smuggling.
Counterfeiting and smuggling has multi- faceted impact on the society it effects the socioeconomic growth of the country as it hampers employment opportunities, foreign direct investment, and trade. It effects the rights’ holders in terms of sales volume and prices, brand value and firm reputation; it effects the government with tax revenues, expenditures and corruption in the country but most importantly it effects the consumer’s health and safety.
Counterfeit and smuggled products are now being produced and consumed in virtually all economies. Economy-wide, counterfeiting and smuggling undermine innovation, which is a key to economic growth. Although, promising work has been done in a number of sectors to measure the extent of the problem, but much more can and should be done.
Importantly more effective enforcement is critical in this regard, as is the need to build public support to combat the counterfeiting and smuggling. According to the survey the lack of information sharing is often perceived to be one of the main obstacles in the fight against counterfeiters and smugglers. To overcome the obstacles and to fight this huge menace FICCI CASCADE involved the enforcement agencies and trained the officers with the best techniques to distinguish the products. It was well attended by over 30 officers.
The magnitude of the problem of counterfeiting and smuggling is huge which requires urgent action from the enforcement agencies.
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Youth Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Debate Competition, DPS Jammu
21/2/2014 | DPS Jammu
FICCI CASCADE believes that sensitising the youth is the essence of development, therefore with this objective FICCI CASCADE organised a youth festival on the theme of Youth Against Counterfeiting and Smuggling at DPS, Jammu. The debate competition witnessed enthusiastic participation of students with their creative ideas to eliminate the hazards of counterfeiting and smuggling.
The youth festival was organized to energize the young minds to take up the fight against smuggling and counterfeiting. The magnitude of counterfeiting and smuggling worldwide is several hundred billion dollars. There is an urgent need to take actions against this illicit business as it has linkage to criminal networks. Reports suggests that counterfeited and smuggled goods produced and distributed are often substandard and can even be dangerous, posing health and safety risks that could be life-threatening.
On 21st February 2014, with an idea to gather support and spread the word among youth, CASCADE enlightened the students with the growing menace of smuggling and counterfeiting. Around 250 students took part to help the economy with massive interest and zeal, which not only motivated the students present but the whole city.
The youth festival was attended by eminent people from the state Mr. M. K. Ajatshatru Singh, Mr. S. K. Lohia, Director, SSG, Mr. S. S. Sodhi, Director, DPS, Dr. Amit Wanchoo, CEO, Space Communications, Mrs. D. Joseph, Principal, DPS and staff and students of the school.
Hon’ble Minister Mr. Nazir Ahmed Khan (Gurezi), Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Animal & Sheep Husbandry and PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Horticulture, Agriculture & Floriculture invoked the spirit of nationalism to fight the evils of smuggling and counterfeiting. He emphasised on the increase in the public health risk with the flow of smuggled and counterfeit products in the market. Mr. Khan highlighted the huge loss to the exchequer due to the increasing smuggling and counterfeiting in the country and thereby its affect on the growth of the economy. He acknowledged the problem in his state and thanked FICCIC CASCADE for taking this initiative and driving a movement nationally.
Mr. Deep Chand, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE gave an overview on the growing menace of counterfeiting and smuggling and shared the magnitude of the problem. He highlighted the high rate of taxes which gives incentive to unscrupulous and anti-social elements for creating a major threat to national safety and hence tax arbitrage creates opportunities for smuggling and counterfeiting. He addressed the students to join hands in support of the cause and pledge to quit fake and fight smuggling.
Mr. S. K. Lohia, Director, SSG emphasised on the role of the society in fighting this menace. In his address he said that people are always the biggest force of change and when they unite for a cause, things do happen. Mr. S. S. Sodhi, Director, DPS appreciated CASCADE for their efforts and congratulated for raising such a good cause to generate awareness. He highlighted few examples and stated the problem of smuggling and counterfeiting as huge and high time to work on it. Dr. Amit Wanchoo, CEO, Space Communications in his address said that youth of Jammu are vibrant and this is a just a start; CASCADE with his organisation will take number of steps to curb it. He also mentioned that such activities are the best mode of bringing change in the society.
FICCI CASCADE as a supporter to the economy and being a pillar of government is trying to give its best to fight against this critical issue. FICCI CASCADE has strived the right nerve by empowering the young minds that represent our future and have great potential to eliminate the menace of smuggling and counterfeiting.
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FICCI CASCADE with an aim to sensitise the young people on various modalities…, Patna
22/1/2014 | Patna
“Freedom from Fakes and Smuggled goods”
FICCI CASCADE with an aim to sensitise the young people on various modalities of working together to address the harms posed by counterfeiting and smuggling organised a youth festival- An Inter-College Competition on the theme of Youth Against Counterfeiting and Smuggling in collaboration with Magadh Mahila College and Adyopant Legal services on 22nd January, 2013 in Patna.
FICCI CASCADE is arming the consumer with knowledge to make informed choices and awareness of the ill-effects of fake, counterfeit and smuggled products. Youth Festival was organized to energize the consumers to take up the fight against Smuggling and Counterfeiting. Around 250 students took enthusiastic interest in the topic and around 80 students participated in multiple competitions to help the economy with their zeal to eradicate this menace.
Professor (Dr.) Dolly Sinha, Principal delivered the welcome address and highlighted the impacts of counterfeiting and smuggling in the state of Bihar. Mr. P C Jha, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE gave an overview on the growing menace of counterfeiting and smuggling. He asked for consumer support to fight this problem and raised consumer awareness on the topic by highlighting various examples and also sharing the magnitude of the problem which has stretched long and where government is facing immense loss in term of revenue and human are facing health and safety risk.
FICCI CASCADE seeks to strengthen the movement against counterfeiting and smuggling for social development and economic growth of the nation. Shri Shyam Rajak, Hon’ble Minister for Food and Consumer Protection, Government of Bihar in his special address emphasised on the growing terrorism being funded by such organised crimes. The affect of the menace of counterfeiting and smuggling is creating on the Indian economy was discussed. He also stated that such activities are causing Rs. 1,00,000 crores annual sales loss to industry and Rs. 26, 190 crores annual Tax loss to government referring to FICCI CASCADE study on “Socio-economic Impact of Counterfeiting, Smuggling and Tax evasion in seven key Industry Sectors”. He encouraged the youth to take part in such competitions and work for the benefit of society as a whole. He also emphasised on the need to ask for a bill as a proof of every purchase to claim against this crime. He congratulated FICCI CASCADE and also mentioned that government is trying to reduce the amount of tax on the products and have seeked Central Govt support for the same.
Counterfeiters and Smugglers are malignant to the economy and industries and have been ruining the culture and system of the country, hence with a thought to discard such rotten apples from the society, one need to understand the extent to which it has destroyed the roots.
The problem of the growth of illicit activities like smuggling and counterfeiting is alarming and every individual must target at exterminating this demon from the society. It lacks passion and through such awareness programme, FICCI CASCADE tends to ignite that passion among the youth to take this initiative ahead and fight the perils of counterfeiting and smuggling.