Tackling counterfeiters in India

Counterfeiting and piracy are among the most serious threats faced by industries globally. In India, the problem is especially big, but efforts to tackle it are becoming more and more effective. Anuradha Salhotra explains.

Counterfeiting has evolved in recent years from a localised industry concentrated on copying high-end designer goods to a sophisticated global network of businesses involved in the mass manufacture and sale of a vast array of spurious goods. It is largely estimated that international trade in counterfeit products exceeds 7 percent of global trade.

Some key facts:

• According to estimates from the World Customs Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, approximately 7 to 10 percent of global trade is derived from counterfeit products. Revenues from these sales are growing at an alarming rate—by more than 400 percent since the early 1990s.

• The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that 10 percent of all prescription medicines circulating in the world are counterfeit.

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted a survey of counterfeit medicines in 20 countries between January 1999 and October 2000 and found that 60 percent of counterfeit medicine cases occurred in poor countries and 40 percent in industrialised countries.

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that counterfeiting costs the global economy more than $100 billion per year.

• The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) conservatively estimates that counterfeit goods cost motor vehicle suppliers up to $12 billion globally in lost sales every year.

Counterfeiting in India