ICC Urges G8 To Take Action Over Counterfeiting

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

29 May 2007

In a letter sent on Friday to G8 leaders by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the G8 governments (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) were urged to take bigger, bolder steps to beat back counterfeiting and piracy.

The letter was sent in advance of the G8 Summit Meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany. It was signed by 23 CEOs and senior business executives, and included recommendations for immediate actions to be taken by G8 countries.

“ICC welcomes the importance the G8 has placed on this critical global issue, by keeping counterfeiting and piracy on the agenda for the past four summits and by setting up a working group on intellectual property rights,” announced Jean-René Fourtou, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi and Co-Chair of ICC’s Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) initiative.

He continued:

“It is now critical, however, that the words be turned to concrete actions by G8 governments to bring an end to the increasing damage being done by this illegal activity. Other government leaders watch the actions being taken by G8 countries, and we are asking the leaders of the G8 governments to take immediate steps to demonstrate their commitment to stop counterfeiting and piracy and to urgently take tougher measures that will serve as an example to the rest of the world.”

The ICC has estimated that businesses lose a total of US$600 billion to counterfeiters each year, including fake products moving across borders as well as those produced and sold domestically and those traded on the Internet.

In addition, this illegal activity generates enormous costs to the global economy, in areas such as employment, consumer health and safety, technology transfer, tax revenues and public finance and law enforcement.

BASCAP aims to unite the global business community in order to more effectively identify and address intellectual property rights issues, and petition for greater commitments by local, national and international officials in the enforcement and protection of IPR.

The specific steps recommended to the G8 leaders by the global business leaders through BASCAP include:

• Abolish all known counterfeit and pirate markets in G8 countries, including Internet sites;
• Prohibit transshipment of counterfeits through free trade zones;
• Take the lead by endorsing World Customs Organization standards that set minimum performance standards, harmonize customs procedures and deter pirates from moving fake merchandise through countries with weak detection systems;
• Take stock of funding, other resources, and capabilities to fight this scourge in G8 countries; and
• Strictly enforce laws against counterfeiting and adopt tough criminal sanctions and penalties that deter intellectual property theft.

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