Interactive Session on Strategies to Curb Smuggling and Counterfeiting, Goa
13/03/2019| Goa
Smuggling and counterfeiting which are termed as illicit trade is today the biggest challenge facing our country. It is also the world’s largest growing economic menace. Owing to its rather complex nature, its size is hard to determine. However, various estimates suggest that over the last ten years, the magnitude of illicit trade has grown from USD 650 billion to about USD 3 trillion, and this criminal activity represents 10 per cent of the global trade, being rightly termed by the FBI as the ‘crime of the 21st century’. It is evident that the hazards of illicit trade are serious which needs to be dealt with sincere commitment leading to result-oriented effective steps addressing this challenge. In order to brain storm on strategies needed to address the problem, FICCI CASCADE organized an Interactive Session on Strategies to Curb Smuggling and Counterfeiting on 13th March 2019 in Goa. This interaction between FICCI CASCADE Think Tank members and representatives from the Government of Goa was organized with the intent to facilitate a wider exchange and ensure a multifaceted perspective to not only understand the risks caused by illicit trade activities but also search for remedial measures to contain this concern.
Mr. Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE, in his opening remarks, stated that with the opening up of the Indian economy in 1991, branded goods made their way into India and there was a clear element of glamour attached to them, which led to a spike in aspirations, especially for the middle-class population. While many products are being introduced through the legal channel, a significantly large number are today serviced through the smuggled and counterfeit route. Participants in this illicit trade not only deprive the government of its rightful revenue but also create an army of anti-social elements who are a threat to each and every society in the world. The criminal networks behind this operate across national borders in activities that include the manufacture, export, import and distribution of smuggled products. Mr. Rajput also highlighted the fact that smuggled goods result in export of jobs and have a detrimental impact on the employment opportunities of the local habitant and hence, this issue needs to be stressed upon and highlighted adequately.
Mr. P. C. Jha, FICCI CASCADE and Former Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs in his address stressed upon the issue of inadequate penal provisions and delayed prosecution/adjudication proceedings which failed to create the desired deterrence with regards to this crime. Moreover, it is also seen that industry do not fully cooperate during investigations and prosecution. More proactive and dedicated actions are needed to be taken by the affected industry, he emphasized.
The discussants from the Government included Mr. Pranab Nanda, Director General of Police, Goa, Mr. K Anpazhakan, Commissioner, GST, Goa, Mr. Satish Pattapu, Joint Director, DRI, Mumbai Zonal Unit and Mr. Nilotpal Mrinal, Commandant, Central Industrial Security Force. The members from FICCI CASCADE Think Tank included Mr. Hem Kumar Pande, Former Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Anil Sinha, Former Director CBI, Mr. Sanjeev Tripathi, Former Chief of RAW, Mr Najib Shah, Former Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Mr. Vikram Srivastava, Former DG, CRPF, Ms Kameswari Subramanian, International Expert Customs Law Procedures and Trade Facilitation and Mr Narendra Sabharwal, Former DDG, WIPO, & Chairman FICCI IPR Committee.
The interactions identified that the action required to address this menace had many elements, starting with greater vigil at the borders. With illicit trade being a worldwide phenomenon, bilateral and multilateral engagements between nations would ensure greater difficulty, if not immobility, of smuggled & counterfeit products from one nation to another. The second stage was strengthening the enforcement agencies and working towards designing better legal system to address this challenge. Punitive action coupled with the right policy framework that dis-incentivizes this entire activity would deter such illegitimate operators from making repeated attempts. Finally, the focus should be on consumers who need to be made aware of the detrimental impact of such spurious goods. Consumer awareness campaigns that explain how to differentiate a fake product from a genuine one, to demanding a copy of the bill from the seller, along with the harmful consequences of buying illegal products vis-a-vis the genuine, needs to explicitly be conveyed.
Seminar reportDownload Pdf
Bengaluru: Gold worth Rs 37 lakh smuggled in door locks, underware.
BENGALURU: Gold smugglers often adopt innovative ways to deceive customs sleuths at Kempegowda International Airport. On Tuesday, two attempts to smuggle in 1.1kg of gold worth over lakh — one where the yellow metal was crafted as components of door locks and the other where it was carried in paste form inside a passenger’s underwear — were foiled at KIA.
Sources with the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Bangalore customs said their team carried out profiling of passengers who disembarked from Gulf Air flight GF 282 (Bahrain to Bengaluru) that landed at KIA at 3.55am.
Following suspicion, customs officials intercepted a male passenger who was later identified as a 50-year-old from Uttar Pradesh. He had travelled from Saudi Arabia. After questioning him, the team inspected his check-in luggage to find door locks. On dismantling them, they found six gold biscuits worth Rs 18. 7 lakh. The suspect carried the gold inside the locks, assuming customs officials would clear them as hardware items as some components were painted in golden colour.
Lear MoreBengaluru: Gold worth Rs 37 lakh smuggled in door locks, underware.
BENGALURU: Gold smugglers often adopt innovative ways to deceive customs sleuths at Kempegowda International Airport. On Tuesday, two attempts to smuggle in 1.1kg of gold worth over lakh — one where the yellow metal was crafted as components of door locks and the other where it was carried in paste form inside a passenger’s underwear — were foiled at KIA. Sources with the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Bangalore customs said their team carried out profiling of passengers who disembarked from Gulf Air flight GF 282 (Bahrain to Bengaluru) that landed at KIA at 3.55am. Following suspicion, customs officials intercepted a male passenger who was later identified as a 50-year-old from Uttar Pradesh. He had travelled from Saudi Arabia. After questioning him, the team inspected his check-in luggage to find door locks. On dismantling them, they found six gold biscuits worth Rs 18. 7 lakh. The suspect carried the gold inside the locks, assuming customs officials would clear them as hardware items as some components were painted in golden colour.
Lear MoreStakeholder Consultation: Developing Strategic Actions Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting- A Dialogue with Delhi Police, New Delhi
28/02/2019| New Delhi
With a view to identify opportunities for joint action between enforcement agencies and industry to combat illicit trade, FICCI CASCADE organized a Stakeholder Consultation with Delhi Police on 28th February 2019 in FICCI. The principal purpose of the interaction was to share with Delhi Police some key issues and challenges faced by industry which could help in understanding the real problems faced on ground, and to keep these aspects in mind while taking action against counterfeiters and smugglers.
Mr. Suvashis Chaudhary, Additional Commissioner of Police, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Delhi Police was the chief guest at this consultation. In his address, he stated that the problem of counterfeiting and smuggling was growing rapidly. Talking about the scale of the problem, Mr. Chaudhary mentioned that EOW had registered 326 cases in last 9 years. Unfortunately, the EOW is insufficiently resourced to handle the large volumes of such cases. Moreover, in most cases the cases are not taken to its logical end. Unless the criminal is convicted and/or required deterrence is made, this problem will keep growing. He also called for interstate coordination between enforcement agencies, an important area that needed growing attention to curb smuggling activities.
The consultation was also addressed by Mr. Harmohan Chauhan, Assistant Commissioner of Police, District Investigation Unit, Delhi Police, who mentioned that Delhi Police in their endeavor to create mass awareness on the ill effects arising out of counterfeiting and smuggling had been undertaking several activities to sensitize the public on this issue and urged industry to come forward and collaborate with the Police in this endeavor.
Mr. Deep Chand, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE and Former Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi in his welcome remarks stated that an estimated 8 to 15% of global GDP was impacted due to illicit trade and related criminal activities. With a growing economy, India also faces the challenge of countering illicit trade in smuggled & counterfeit goods. Mr. Chand highlighted the following key concerns of the enforcement machinery in India and proposed prioritizing this issue by the Police.
- The scale of illicit markets is huge, while criminal networks and illicit markets continue to thrive
- Limited resources and overstretched capacity
- Lack of knowledge/training of Intellectual Property Rights
- Counterfeiting and smuggling is not a priority for enforcers and regulators
- Lack of effective exchange of information, assistance & inter-departmental collaboration
India: towards greater accountability of intermediaries?
Indian authorities are considering amending the Information Technology Act 2000. Article 79 deals with the exemption of intermediaries from liability, imposing on them an obligation of diligence as to the lawfulness of the contents. In the course of 2018, the government informed the elected officials of its determination to modify the legal framework in the sense of greater accountability of intermediaries.
These rules, called Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018, would require intermediaries with more than 5 million users in India to have a registered subsidiary in India. It goes without saying that this provision is intended to facilitate the liability of the intermediary.
The bill also aims to require intermediaries to prohibit their users from publishing content or promoting products that are hazardous to health, specifically targeting tobacco, alcohol, and cosmetics. Furthermore, the platforms themselves would have the obligation to deploy automated tools to proactively identify and delete or disable illegal content.
Finally, among the new provisions envisaged, it is also necessary to note the requirement, formulated by the Indian Government, of greater cooperation in the suppression of the illicit contents and the identification of the authors of such contents.
https://www.iptwins.com/en/2019/02/27/india-towards-greater-accountability-of-intermediaries/
Lear More
Three men arrested, smuggled cigarettes, tobacco worth RM1.8m seized.
Police arrested three men and seized smuggled cigarettes and tobacco, worth RM1.8 million, in an operation at Seri Kembangan here last Thursday.
Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, in a statement today, said the suspects were aged between 38 and 50.
The seized items comprised 190 boxes of cigarettes with the brand name, League, and 40 boxes of raw tobacco, each weighing 22kg, on which tax had not been paid, he said.
He said the police also seized two lorries and a Toyota Hilux during the operation.
Acryl Sani said the contraband was believed to have been smuggled from a neighbouring country by land for markets in the Klang Valley and southern part of the peninsula. — Bernama
Lear More
Three men arrested, smuggled cigarettes, tobacco worth RM1.8m seized.
Police arrested three men and seized smuggled cigarettes and tobacco, worth RM1.8 million, in an operation at Seri Kembangan here last Thursday. Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, in a statement today, said the suspects were aged between 38 and 50. The seized items comprised 190 boxes of cigarettes with the brand name, League, and 40 boxes of raw tobacco, each weighing 22kg, on which tax had not been paid, he said. He said the police also seized two lorries and a Toyota Hilux during the operation. Acryl Sani said the contraband was believed to have been smuggled from a neighbouring country by land for markets in the Klang Valley and southern part of the peninsula. — Bernama
Lear MoreCapacity Building Programme for Police Officers on Prevention of Counterfeiting and Smuggling, Lucknow
23rd February 2019 | Lucknow
On 23 February 2019, FICCI CASCADE organized a capacity building program on the Prevention of Counterfeiting and Smuggling, specifically for the U.P. police officers at the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Headquarters, UP Police. The objective was to help the participating police officials understand the relevant laws and procedures in tackling counterfeiters and smugglers. Mr. Deep Chand, while discussing the subject, said that “According to a recent study, the total value of counterfeited and pirated goods, which in the year 2013 was USD 923 billion, has been forecasted to touch USD 2.81 trillion by 2022”. He also pointed out that the illegal money which was being diverted to organized crimes including human trafficking, smuggling and terrorism, was generated through illicit trade. The training programme was attended by over 50 U.P. police officers and provided a useful platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences in the enforcement of laws and practices while dealing with counterfeited and smuggled products.
Man jailed for trying to smuggle millions of cigarettes into Australia.
A Malaysian man has been sentenced to five years in prison for an attempt to smuggle more than six million cigarettes into Australia, in alleged duty evasion of more than $4 million. Australian Border Force said the cigarettes, which originated from Malaysia, were concealed within sophisticated cover loads. The smugglers were caught on 10 August 2017, when three Malaysian nationals were found in two factories unpacking the tobacco. All three were subsequently arrested and charged under the Customs Act 1901, with possession of tobacco products, knowing that the goods were imported with the intention of defrauding revenue. They were convicted and sentenced to between 16–24 months imprisonment for their involvement in the importations.
Lear MoreSeminar on Communication, Coordination and Collaboration-Strengthening the fight against counterfeiting and smuggling, Lucknow
22nd February 2019 | Lucknow
Illicit trade costs billions of dollars in tax revenues, diminishing legitimate business revenues, distorting economies, eroding social fabric and fueling organized crime. In order to lower the incidence of such illegal trading activities, we need a coordinated response from all stakeholders, bridge the enforcement gaps which can be exploited by criminal networks, reassess capacities to counter illicit trade, and identify areas which yield greatest public benefit and awareness.
Illicit trade is a major concern worldwide. To address this issue, FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) organized a seminar on ‘Communication, Coordination and Collaboration – Strengthening the fight against counterfeiting and smuggling’ on 22 February 2019 in Lucknow. The seminar was organized to provide stakeholders with the tools, information and capacity needed to tackle illicit trade.
Mr. Brijesh Pathak, Cabinet Minister, Legislative and Justice, Government of Uttar Pradesh, the chief guest at the seminar, congratulated FICCI CASCADE for the initiative on curbing illicit trade and extended his support in working collaboratively with the industry body. He further urged that the industry should come out with the set of recommendations for due consideration while designing future policies. The minister emphasized that with adequate and necessary support from the general public, the government will be better equipped to fight the hazards of smuggling and counterfeiting and in making new laws on the subject.
Mr. Amar Tulsiyan, Managing Director, Shudh Plus and Member, FICCI Uttar Pradesh State Council, in his welcome address, highlighted how counterfeiting and smuggling were adversely impacting industries, consumers, government and the Indian economy as a whole. It was very important that the need for safeguarding the rights of legitimate industry was kept in view to help develop competitiveness in various sectors of the economy, Mr. Tulsiyan emphasized.
Mr. P. C. Jha, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE and Former Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, stated “In the last twenty years, the volume of counterfeiting activities globally has increased 100 times and the size of trade in counterfeited goods is 10% of the legal international trade (around 2% of the world’s overall economic output). The problem of illicit trade is much more serious than it is commonly perceived”. Mr. Jha also highlighted that in India around 20% of road accidents occured due to fake auto parts.
The seminar also held panel discussions on ‘Organized Crime Surge in India – Role of Enforcement Agencies in Combating Smuggling and Counterfeiting’ and ‘Role of Government and Industry to Fight Against Smuggled & Fake Products and Ensuring Consumer Protection’, where experts from various fields deliberated on the issue at hand.
Mr. Deep Chand, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE and Former Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, who moderated the panel discussions, emphasized on the need for consumers being continuously made aware of the detrimental impact of illicit products and the increasing role of enforcement agencies to curb this menace. He said that awareness campaigns explain the consumers on how to differentiate a spurious product from a genuine one and emphasized on demanding a copy of the bill from the seller for every purchase, along with the harmful consequences of buying illegal products vis-a-vis genuine ones.
The problem of counterfeiting and smuggling can be only be solve when society will recognize it as serious threat to the nation emphasized, Mr. Nilabja Choudhary, IG, PAC, UP Police Lucknow. Mr. A R Naik, Additional Commissioner, Customs (P), stressed on the need to have a multi-disciplinary approach to encounter this challenge. Mr. V K Singh, Additional Director, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said that society at large, trade & industry and enforcement machinery should work together to fight this major issue.
Mr. Tanmay Jaswal, Founder & Director Chkfake Brand Protection Solution Pvt. Ltd while speaking on “Defending Your Brand – Product Authentication as an Element of the Global Brand Protection Strategy” highlighted that counterfeited medicine contributed to an estimated loss of USD 46 billion annually to pharmaceutical companies worldwide.
Mr. Sanjay Gupta, President, U.P. Adarsh Vyapar Mandal, pointed out that counterfeit products were available across all industries and emphasized on the need for education and support from citizens to combat this evil. Mr. Vijay Acharya, Founder President, Bharat Jyoti-Consumer Forum, affirmed his support to FICCI CASCADE in its nationwide awareness campaign to protect consumers rights in terms of health and safety, and proposed extending this drive to the remotest areas in the state. Mr. Sanjay Abhigyan, Senior Editor, Amar Ujala underlined the role of media in highlighting this critical issue more prominently. Mr. Tikaram Rawat, Designated Officer, Food Safety and Drug Administration, Govt. of UP urged the consumers to be more vigilant towards the issue of counterfeiting and smuggling, observing that if the consumers become growingly aware of the matter and begin looking at it seriously, the problem could be addressed effectively to a large extent.
The event witnessed enthusiastic participation of the stakeholders present in the seminar, including representatives from the government and enforcement agencies, consumer activists, media personnel, industry and legal experts. Over 200 people attended the seminar that saw intense interaction with delegates demonstrating an active interest in the issue. The program concluded with a consensus that to mitigate this global risk, both public and private sector decision makers needed a firmer understanding of the problem, the nature of its economic impact and a clearer comprehension of the conditions that enabled it.
Coverage reportDownload Pdf