Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) offences now affect everything that is manufactured and has a commercial value, touching all sectors from horticulture to the auto industry to pharmaceuticals.

The offenders keep pace with the latest technology and with trends in the global market. The objectives are profit at any price and maximum cost-effectiveness, with total disregard for humanitarian considerations, an objective perfectly in keeping with the criminal and terrorist organizations which use the highly lucrative counterfeiting and piracy industry to finance their activities.

Nowadays, the means of production used by counterfeiters are equivalent to those employed in the licit product market, and are based on the latest technology. The counterfeiters adopt an industrial approach, enabling them to improve both the quality and the quantity of counterfeit goods.

In the past, the distribution of counterfeit goods was confined to fly-by-night networks, street-corner vendors, street stalls, etc., with no real organization.

This distribution model limited the market penetration of counterfeit goods.

    Distribution has now been diversified. Technical advances such as the Internet offer traffickers new distribution opportunities and make their illicit products accessible to the global marketplace. E-commerce has led to a huge increase in the number of transactions for which it is difficult to identify the vendors, who are able to hide behind pseudonyms. The distribution network involves large numbers of intermediaries, and increasingly innovative methods are being used to disseminate the goods.

Economic impact

The impact of the counterfeit goods traffic on the global economy is becoming greater every year, and is affecting all those involved in international trade. Counterfeiting causes serious economic and social damage to countries, in particular by discouraging inward investment.

Manufacturers, distributors and entrepreneurs are looking for a fair trading environment in which their products or trademarks will receive adequate protection against unfair competition. International companies are tending to reduce the number of their manufacturing and distribution sites, with the result that they are extremely selective about which countries they eventually invest in.

The role of Customs in combating counterfeiting

Customs carries out an essential function in the fiscal area, but as import duties fall its mission of protecting society and ensuring compliance with trade rules, and its role in achieving a fair and equitable international market, are assuming increasing significance.

As a result of its position at land, sea and air borders, Customs is the public service which is best placed to protect the external borders. The Customs officers of today have to deal with a very wide range of offences and frauds in relation to, in particular, illicit drugs, endangered species, nuclear materials and hazardous goods, cultural heritage items, and goods whose importation, exportation and carriage contravene intellectual property rights (IPR) legislation.

TRIPS Agreement

In the framework of the negotiations and of the Convention establishing the World Trade Organization, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was signed on 15 April 1994. Part III, Section 4 of the TRIPS Agreement describes the role and responsibilities that Customs administrations are called upon to assume with regard to the application of the IPR regulations. Many Customs administrations of developing countries which have joined the WTO are therefore required to implement the TRIPS Agreement in full.

Training

The WCO has developed a joint Customs/business training programme on IPR. This is an innovative partnership operating with due regard for economic necessities.

The WCO’s basic policy involves helping Member administrations to enhance their effectiveness so that they can progress at their own pace towards the development and implementation of an operational set-up which suits their environment.

The WCO has now established a Counterfeiting and Piracy Group (CAP) to provide a platform for its members to exchange best practices and discuss their views and experiences on IPR related issues.

Module 6

Exercise 1. Scan the text to speak about core components that will shape the Customs agencies of the future.

Text 1