Front Page	E-mail PagePrint Version

Illegal goods cost American businesses, alone, $200 billion to $250 billion annually

LOS ANGELES – 10/13/08 – Several containers of counterfeit goods were among 357 shipments of imported counterfeit and pirated goods recently seized by US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agents at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The estimated street value of the seized good is more than $71 million, the CBP said, adding that there has been a 50% increase in the number of seizures sp far this year, compared to the same period last year.

The seized goods included a variety of high-end knock-off handbags, shoes, toys, DVD movies, sunglasses, Christmas tree lights, pharmaceuticals, and wearing apparel.

Phony athletic footwear was the number one item on the list with an estimated domestic value of over $2.2 million.

In April, CBP agents at both ports seized two containers of counterfeit products valued at over $1.3 million. The shipments would have been worth more than $38 million had they contained authentic items.

The containers – both from China – arrived at the ports with documentation stating that they contained luggage.

Instead, they held hats, shoes, blankets, wallets, iPods, belts, wearing apparel, jewelry, and other objects bearing fake labels with trademarks for such designer brands as Burberry, Giorgio Armani, Baby Phat, Dolce & Gabbana, and TAG Heuer.

Earlier the same month, the CBP intercepted a large quantity of counterfeit cigarettes after selecting an inbound container, also from China, arriving at the Port of Los Angeles.

The 49,780 cartons of "Marlboro" and "Marlboro Lights" cigarettes were hidden behind boxes of paper napkins and had an estimated domestic value of more than $1.5 million.

A laboratory analysis by CBP technicians confirmed that the cigarettes were not manufactured by Philip Morris USA or any of its foreign affiliates or licensees. Philip Morris USA, the legitimate manufacturer of Marlboro brands, advised the CBP that they had not authorized the importer or exporter to use their trademark.

Illegally imported products cost American businesses $200 billion to $250 billion annually and are directly responsible for the loss of 750,000 American jobs, according to the CBP.

Recently the US Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (S. 2235) which would create an Intellectual Property (IP) enforcement "czar" within the administration to work with the appropriate US government agencies to develop a joint strategy to fight product piracy and IP theft.

It will also give Washington more power to track down and prosecute product counterfeiters and provide the US Justice Department with additional funds to address the issue of product piracy and work more closely with state and local law enforcement.

The European Union (EU) is also taking strong action to crack-down on IP theft and product piracy.

According to a press release issued by the the European Commission in Brussels, the EU has approved a plan that would focus on measures "aimed at facilitating stakeholder dialogue and voluntary inter-industry agreements to tackle the most imminent problems, improve coordination between member states, and help to build key partnerships between enforcers and industry to develop information sharing and analysis."

In 2006, EU customs officials intercepted more than 128 million counterfeited and pirated articles, involving 37,334 cases, a jump of 70% compared to 2005.

The European Commission, which drafted the plan, said its approval was a political signal given by the EU member states to build a robust legal framework by demonstrating a more practical and "zero-tolerance" approach to counterfeiting.

According to figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the value of pirated products exceeds the individual gross domestic product of about 150 economies in the world, including 24 of the EU member states.

Go back, or read the latest Front Page stories:

Outlook Dim for Global Trade in 2009

LOS ANGELES – 12/31/08 – World trade will shrink next year for the first time since 1982, according to the World Bank’s new Global Economic Prospects report; the forcasted downturn is blamed on the high cost of trade finance, tight credit and lagging consumer demand, but, the report says, things should brighten by the end of the year.