FICCI CASCADE Seminar on Curbing Counterfeiting and Smuggling – An Imperative for Indian Economy, MADHYA PRADESH

26/11/2012 | Madhya Pradesh

The 5th consultation organised at Bhopal launched a multi-pronged and sustained public campaign to enlarge awareness among the people of Madhya Pradesh about the criminal offences involved in counterfeiting, smuggling and other organized crime which adversely affect the rights and interests of individuals. The seminar focused on the affects of counterfeiting which damage the interests of growers, producers, manufacturers and traders, cause loss of revenue to the public exchequer, and pose a serious threat to the security of the State and the country.

The Minister of Finance, Madhya Pradesh Shri Raghavji, inaugurated the seminar and said that citizens should know about counterfeit products, they should understand that cheaper counterfeit products can risk their life’s. Mr. Govind Goyal, Vice President, Federation of Madhya Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, gave the welcome address, he said that this seminar is of immense importance as it would help in enlarging awareness among all the stakeholders as how to curb the production and use of counterfeit products. He also highlighted that Madhya Pradesh has emerged asa hot bed of illegal cigarettes in India.

The Minister congratulated FICCI-CASCADE and FMPCCI for joining hands to deliberate on such an extremely important problem. He emphasized that the loss suffered by the government by such activities in terms of revenue is huge. He gave a threefold solution to the problem where the consumers have to be made aware of the issue, secondly more people should come forward to report the cases and finally the government should encourage such seminars and people to come forward and report the activities.

Mr. Dinesh Prajapati, Editor, Upbhokta Express highlighted the role of consumers forums and organizations in spreading awareness on counterfeiting and smuggling. Mr. Manoj Mathur, Editor- in-Chief, Bare Truth said that fake and counterfeit medicines have a direct impact on the health and safety of consumers. Mr. M N Buch, Advisor Editor, Bare Truth spoke on the role of media in spreading consumer education and awareness in curbing counterfeiting and smuggling.

In the panel discussion on intellectual property enforcement issues against smuggling and counterfeiting Mr. Deep Chand, advisor FICCI CASCADE highlighted the role of Police and customs enforcement of the techniques and schemes for curbing counterfeiting and smuggling in India. Mr. MR Krishna , ADG, CID Bhopal informed the gathering that CID is the nodal agency for reporting counterfeiting and smuggling cases and invited people to come forward and inform the police. He assured that prompt action would be taken on such reports. The other panel list Dr. D K Verma,Commissioner, Customs &Excise , Bhopal mentioned that the customs have taken this issue very seriously and is working to curb this issue. He mentioned that a conjoint effort of consumers, Industry and the enforcement agency is the key to curb this issue.