The STOP PIRACY Association held a spectacular ‘destruction derby’ in Berne on 21 October. Using a road roller, it scrapped 15,000 tons of counterfeited watches and disposed of 2 tons of counterfeited medicines. The impressive images are to motivate consumers into actively thinking about the risks involved in buying counterfeited products. The action ties in with the on-going “We subsidise criminals” campaign by the STOP PIRACY Association which spotlights the criminal background behind such activity.
Appeal to personal responsibility
When asked about counterfeiting and piracy, many Swiss think first of beach vendors and street hawkers in sunny tourist strongholds. But these vendors are usually only the last link in an illegal business worth billions which is controlled by well organised bands involving almost every product group. Many consumers are not at all, or insufficiently, aware that they are subsidising criminal organisations when they purchase counterfeits. All over the world, consumers are being put at risk, social welfare systems cheated, buyers deceived and ultimately jobs destroyed, just so illegal trade can prosper. The current campaign, featuring the fictional family Flückiger, hopes to sensitise the public to the issues behind counterfeiting and piracy.
Huge scope – immense dangers
According to STOP PIRACY president Anastasia Li-Treyer, consumers are feeling increasingly insecure in view of the sheer volume of counterfeited products – and this concerns online trade as well.
From vehicle tyres to toothbrushes, around the world everything is being counterfeited today. In addition to safety and health factors, the public sector and manufacturers of the genuine articles are also being affected. They are being cheated of tax revenues or, respectively, fair wages for their work.
Meanwhile, counterfeiters are reinvesting their billions of profit into numerous other illegal activities such as drug or human trafficking. This is why, according to Li-Treyer, raising awareness is important:
“Consumers must be actively informed about the background of this sordid business.”
Consumers and producers are equally affected
Ruth Mosimann, from the Swiss agency for therapeutic products, Swissmedic, clearly points out that consumer health is always at stake in the fight against counterfeiting in her report. For instance, online purchases of medicines are always linked with grave risks, regardless of whether it has to do with pills for erectile dysfunction, diet pills or even antibiotics. Financially as well, according to Michel Rudin from the Konsumentenforum (kf), purchasing counterfeits isn’t worth it. “If the counterfeits aren’t seized by the customs agents, then problems arise at the latest when the product turns out to be defective and it cannot be returned”, says Rudin. That is also why Jean-Daniel Pasche of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS) finds it incomprehensible that Swiss continue to bring counterfeited watches home from their travels abroad, or order them over the internet the same as always. They hurt the entire Swiss economy doing this.
The STOP PIRACY Association
The STOP PIRACY Association, whose secretariat is managed by the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property and which brings together the Swiss government, the Swiss economy and consumers under one umbrella, continued its commitment to the fight against counterfeiting and piracy during the reporting year.
Source: OHIM
