Webinar on Communication, Coordination and Collaboration- Strengthening the fight against counterfeiting and smuggling

26/11/2020

It has long been known that counterfeiting and smuggling make up a vast ‘global businesses’, representing a multibillion-dollar illegal industry that creates a significant drain on the world economy. Further, it negatively impacts legitimate economic activity and facilitates an underground economy and organized crime that deprives governments of revenues for vital public services, forces higher burdens on taxpayers, dislocates hundreds of thousands of legitimate jobs and exposes consumers to dangerous and ineffective products. It is the world’s largest growing industry, and its size is estimated to range between $650 million to $3 trillion according to multiple studies.

No country is immune to the impact of counterfeiting and smuggling and no single sector can be said to be an exception. The wide availability of such products is one of the biggest challenges faced by Indian industry, impacting ‘Brand India’ globally.

FICCI has been focusing on the need to curb the problem of counterfeits, pass offs and smuggled goods, and accordingly has dedicated a forum by establishing CASCADE – Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy. FICCI CASCADE works closely with industry, consumers, media, legal experts, consumer organizations and government to create awareness on how counterfeiting and smuggling have become a serious menace to public health and safety, and why all concerned must make a concerted effort to contain this menace.

in spite of several measures taken by all stakeholders to contain counterfeiting and smuggling, further steps are required, both in the form of policy intervention and awareness generation to address this socio-economic scourge. It is with the above background, FICCI’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE) organized a webinar on ‘Communication, Coordination and Collaboration – Strengthening the fight against counterfeiting and smuggling’ on 26 November 2020.

Dr. Amar Patnaik, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha in his keynote address at the webinar elaborated that in order to drive India’s economic resurgence, the parallel economy in counterfeiting and smuggling has to be addressed. This would help if India wants to achieve a $ 5 trillion economy in 2025 and aim to take it to $ 10 trillion by 2027. He further added that measures such as public policy and strong enforcement are much needed to address this twin threat.

Mr Anil Rajput, Chair, FICCI CASCADE in his welcome address said that despite several measures taken by all stakeholders, further steps are required, both in the form of policy intervention and awareness generation to address this socio-economic scourge. Mr. Rajput further reiterated the need for establishing a coordinated national strategy to share intelligence, best practices, and cooperation on cross-border investigations to contain smuggling and counterfeiting

While highlighting the need for all the stakeholders to work in sync to combat this menace, Mr Deepankar Aron, Commissioner, GST (Appeals), Dehradun, Uttarakhand said, “Right data sharing with the right people at the right time is important in order to address this issue.” Further, on the enforcement scenario, Mr Aron said, “In just one-year, fraudulent imports exports worth Rs 2000 crore were detected leading to 200 arrests on white-collar crimes by the DRI, Eastern region.”

FICCI CASCADE has been over the years conducting multi-stakeholder dialogues focusing on identifying opportunities for joint actions between governments, enforcement agencies, industry and consumer organizations to combat this menace. The webinar brought together policymakers, think tanks, enforcement agencies, industry, and consumer organizations to deliberate on industry issues in tackling the flow of counterfeit, smuggled, and spurious products not only in the offline markets but on the online market space too.

The webinar saw participation from the e-commerce giant, Amazon who’s Director for Category Management, India, Mr. Noor Patel discussed measures that Amazon employs to check the proliferation of the issue and highlighted their innovative mechanisms and advanced technology solutions in blocking and tracing bad actors. Mr. Milind Palany, Global Brand Protection Lead – India & South Asia, Johnson & Johnson discussed the collaborative role of government and industry in thwarting this menace such as the need for collaboration with customs through data sharing mechanisms and knowledge dissemination. Speaking on the role of consumers, Prof. Bejon Kumar Misra, International Consumer Policy Expert, JAGO GRAHAK JAGO stated that there is a need to engage consumers more effectively if counterfeiting and smuggling needs to be tackled successfully.

It is unfortunate that the problem of smuggling and counterfeiting has only compounded in the current situation where the world is facing severe disruptions due to COVID-19. The criminals, on the other hand have used the pandemic as an opportunity to exploit the vulnerable consumer and organizations causing significant damage. Mr. Deep Chand, Former Spcl. Commissioner of Police, New Delhi and Advisor, FICCI CASCADE in his concluding remarks said that It is imperative that businesses take proper steps to protect consumers from the proliferation of scammers and infringers that seek to take advantage of the current crisis.