Counterfeiting: 70% of fakes come from east Asia
China-Gioia Tauro or China-Dubai-Gioia Tauro. These are the main routes taken by fakes headed for Europe.
According to data published by Department II of the Italian Customs Office, headed by General Walter Cretella Lombardo, about 70% of the world's production of counterfeits comes from Southeast Asia. China is top of the list, followed by South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia. The remaining 30% comes from the Mediterranean with the leadership going to Italy behind Morocco, Turkey and Spain and, more recently, former Soviet block countries (Russia and Ukraine) and, subsequent to the Olympics, Greece.
It represents two slices of the cake with a euro value of 210 and 90 billion, respectively. According to calculations by the Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau, the world value of counterfeit goods is around 300 billion euros a year (for Italy, the estimate by trade associations is between 3.5 and 7 billion and, based on the volume of seized products, the Customs Office estimates a figure of 1.5 billion).
'The dynamics of market globalization', the Customs Office explained to Il Sole 24 Ore, 'means that whereas once these two counterfeit production areas were completely separate, they are now intertwined: increasingly, counterfeit components originating in China enter the EU, they are assembled here and often given counterfeit logos'.
Apart from the European Union, destination countries include North America, Russia and North Africa. The investigators at Department II of the Customs Office explained 'Growth in the demand for luxury goods in recent years has spread the sale of counterfeit products, even to cities like New York. Although it is still limited, it is easy to understand why a counterfeit market has begun in Russia: the nouveau riche are on the increase and, above all, an increasing number of young people are approaching Western fashions'. In North Africa, however, it is the case of a supply market. Counterfeit goods are intended to supply seasonal immigrants.
The entry point in the south of Italy is Gioia Tauro, frequently via Dubai; in the north, entry to Europe is through Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg.
Additional confirmation of these routes is provided by the fact that at Gioia Tauro in the summer of 2003, Svad (Servizio Vigilanza Antifrode Doganale) and the Customs Office seized quantities of sunglasses with various labels (Police, Sting, Ray-Ban), the majority of which were produced by Anfao members. The cost of the destruction of these glasses at Crotone, April 20, 2004, was met by Anfao. In collaboration with Customs at Gioia Tauro and Crotone and the Environmental Protection services at Crotone, Anfao met the costs of breaking them up and disposing of them in compliance with the law.
This is just one of the events in which Anfao has been in the front line against counterfeiting. Starting with Mido's anti-counterfeiting services, the Association has sued for damages in criminal proceedings where the intellectual property rights of its members have been infringed, for many years it has been directly involved in all conferences which take a decisive stand on the problem, on August 2004 an open letter was addressed to the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and to the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, inviting them to adopt tough measures against counterfeiting (this was given considerable coverage by the national press) and, lastly, the Association actively participates in the Technical Committee of the Italian Manufacturers' Association (Confindustria) 'Safeguarding Brands and the Fight against Counterfeiting'. Anfao has always paid particular attention to this old problem.
It is precisely for this reason that Anfao is working on the upcoming definition of a Protocol of Understanding with Customs (Svad) aimed at strengthening mutual cooperation in monitoring and preventing counterfeiting, in the eyewear sector at least.
