Transcript Document

Intellectual Property and
International Business Seminar
Business Priorities to Fight Counterfeits in Croatia
Tracy Faustin
ICC BASCAP
25 November 2014
1
2
Magnitude of the Global Problem
•
The total global economic value of counterfeit and pirated
products is estimated to reach $1.77 trillion by the end of 2015.
•
International trade accounts for $360 billion and is expected to
rise to $960 billion by 2015.
•
Serious threat to consumer health and safety: fake medicines,
counterfeit electrical goods, fraudulent foods etc.
•
Damage to economy: loss in tax revenue, business income, and
jobs.
•
Link to organized crime networks
3
“Top 10” for an effective IP enforcement regime
1. Empower judicial authorities to issue injunctions against a party to
desist from an infringement, including preventing their
exportation.
2. Empower judicial authorities to order the infringer to pay
damages adequate to compensate for the injury the right holder
has suffered.
3. Empower right holders to request the customs authorities to
suspend the release of goods suspected of infringing IPRs
including goods in transit/transshipment as well as those in
import or export procedures.
4
“Top 10” for an effective IP enforcement regime
4. Empower competent authorities to order the seizure, forfeiture or
destruction of counterfeit goods.
5. Provide penalties that include imprisonment as well as monetary
fines sufficiently high to provide a deterrent to future acts of
infringement.
6. Empower customs authorities to act upon their own initiative (“exofficio”) to suspend the release of suspected counterfeit goods,
including goods admitted to, withdrawn from, or located in free trade
zones.
5
“Top 10” for an effective IP enforcement regime
7. Adopt procedures for the enforcement in the digital environment
8. Promote specialized skills training and expertise in IPR cases by
law enforcement officials and Courts through the creation of
specialized IP units within enforcement agencies.
9. Promote domestic coordination among, and facilitate joint actions
by, the competent authorities responsible for the enforcement of
IPRs
10. Promote international cooperation among the competent
authorities responsible for the enforcement of IPRs.
6
Country and regional initiatives
Kenya
Ukraine
Turkey
India
Russia
7
Reports include:
1. Value of IP for country’s growth
and development
2. Overview of counterfeiting and
piracy problem
?
3. Legislative and policy
recommendations
Looking for partners to
expand list into Croatia
8
Counterfeiting and piracy has become a
lucrative market for organized crime
Some of the most notorious criminal organizations have been found to
be actively involved in counterfeiting and piracy, including the Chinese
Triads, Japanese Yakuza, Russian Mafia, and the Neapolitan Camorra.
Several contributing factors:
- profit vs. risk ratio
- modest legal penalties
- lax enforcement compared to other crimes
- transnational nature of IP crime
9
UNICRI / BASCAP
REPORT
Confiscation of the
Proceeds of IP Crime:
A modern tool for deterring
counterfeiting and piracy
10
How proceeds of crime (POC)
legislation tackles IP crime
1. Deter criminality by affecting the balance of risk and
reward.
2. Disrupt and prevent funding of further IP and other
forms of crime.
3. Re-use the confiscated proceeds for IP crime
prevention initiatives or social purposes.
11
POC Recommendations
UNICRI / BASCAP recommendations fall into three
categories:
1. Legal framework to effectively implement POC
legislation
2. Institutional framework to effectively administer POC
legislation
3. International cooperation mechanisms
12
Turning recommendations into action
• Generate greater awareness amongst Croatian policy makers of
the value of the POC legislation as an effective additional
punishment to IP criminals.
• Encourage and support the effort of the Croatian government to
establish or enhance a solid POC legal framework.
• Enhance the capacity of law enforcement officers to investigate
and confiscate the proceeds of IP crime.
The POC report and full set of recommendations can be found on our
website www.iccwbo.org/bascap
13
BASCAP REPORT
Controlling the Zone:
Balancing facilitation and
control to combat illicit trade
in the world’s Free Trade
Zones
14
Free Trade Zones
Benefit Local Economies and Global Business
• Reduce barriers and facilitate global free trade
• Provide important economic stimulus/employment to
national and local economies, and to the businesses that
operate within their territories
• Play a critical role in the globalization of world economy
 2008: Estimated 3000 FTZs in 135 countries, accounting
for 68 million direct jobs and over US$500 billion of direct
trade-related value.
 Today: over 10.000 FTZs!
15
The Criminal’s Tricks in FTZs
•
Disguise origin - FTZs are used to launder shipments and
documents, disguising their original point of manufacture or
departure
•
Distribute goods - Traffickers use FTZs as distribution points in the
supply chain for counterfeit goods
•
Process goods - Counterfeiters bring “unfinished” goods into an
FTZ for “further manufacture” (e.g., repackaging, relabeling,
counterfeit trademarks) and then ship the finished counterfeits to
other countries
•
Complete manufacture - Some fake goods are manufactured
entirely within the FTZ
16
Legal Framework
• WCO Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)
“free zone” means a part of the territory of a
Contracting Party where any goods introduced
are generally regarded, insofar as import duties
and taxes are concerned, as being outside the
Customs territory.
17
Free Trade Zones and Customs
Key Concepts:
– FTZs are part of and inside the boundaries of the
national territory, not independent states
– Goods are considered in FTZ for Duties and Taxes
only, not for other international obligations, laws and
regulations
– National Customs, as part of the worldwide
community of Customs, has responsibilities for
prevention of illicit trade and protection of legitimate
trade inside the FTZs
18
FTZ Recommendations
• Ensure that national IPR legislation is applicable to all
goods in the national territory, in all Customs
regimes, including transit, in-transit, and free-zone
regimes.
• Empower Customs with:
– Jurisdiction over FTZs’ daily operations.
– Ex-officio power to detain goods they suspect of infringing IPRs
– Authority over goods in transit and free zones
19
FTZ Recommendations
• Ensure close cooperation between national Customs
and the special authorities of FTZs to provide:
– an interface between Customs Forms and business records of
Zone Operators.
– enforcement of anti-counterfeiting criminal and civil laws.
The FTZ report and full set of recommendations can be found on our
website www.iccwbo.org/bascap
20
Consumer Awareness Campaign:
Fakes Cost More, I Buy Real
www.ibuyreal.com
21
Posters
22
Spanish - Mexico
Partner: ICC Mexico
23
Swahili - Kenya
Partner: Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA)
24
Albanian
French
Turkish
Arabic
Spanish
Ukrainian
Croatian
26
For more information please visit:
www.iccwbo.org/bascap
Jeffrey Hardy
Director
[email protected]
+1 239 267 4488
Tracy Faustin
Project Manager
[email protected]
+33 1 49 53 28 27
William Dobson
Deputy Director
[email protected]
+1 513 878 2630
Alexandra Iliopoulou
Policy & Legal Adviser
[email protected]
+ 32 489 97 01 43
THANK YOU !
MERCI !
HVALA !
27