FICCI-CASCADE Seminar on ‘Curbing Counterfeiting and Smuggling – An Imperative for Indian Economy, West Bengal
23/4/2013 | Kolkata
The 9th consultation was in augurated by Shri Sadhan Pande, Hon’ble Minister-in-Charge, Department of Consumer Affairs, GoWB. Hon’ble Minister pointed out that counterfeiting is detrimental to the Government, the original brand owner, the consumer and it has socio economic impacts as well. TheGovernment loses taxes, adopts expensive preventive measures and has to compensate for public healthcare and welfare. Consumer Affairs Department has given paramount importance to generate awareness. Different activities relating to consumer protection are being carried out with greater momentum than before. The do-s and don’t s are highlighted, also seminars on consumer education involving consumer activists, students, NGOs and other stakeholders are being arranged.
Mr. Gaurav Swarup, Chairman, FICCI West Bengal State Council in his welcome address said counterfeiting which is termed as the crime of the 21st century accounts for almost 10% of the current global trade. Intensifying consumer awareness is one of the ways out to curb counterfeit and there is a need to develop a proactive strategy to create mass awareness on this increasingly growing peril. The seminar was attended by over 140 representatives from Government, Industry, Consumer organizations, leading NGOs, Media and other stakeholders.
The key points which emerged from the deliberations are as follows:
1. There is a need to generate and spread more awareness on the hazardous impact of contrabandand counterfeit products by all stakeholders
2. Brand owners must also take an active part and more dedicated efforts to be put in by the industry
3. Generate awareness of personnel not only at regular channels of trade, but at all points of influx including border police and coast guard
4. There is adequate legal framework but more effective and strengthened enforcement is required
5. To ensure effective enforcement adequate funding is necessary along with developing relevant
expertise, information and knowledge base and most importantly willingness to enforce
6. Form special cell in enforcement branch only to tackle with problem of counterfeiting
7. Use of civil remedies, to ensure that complainant persists till the end of the litigation
8. Industry should register trademark with the enforcement authorities and customs
9. Provision for a 5 year plan with specific focus on eradication of the problem of counterfeiting.
Candle light congregation, Lucknow
11/4/2013 | Lucknow
FICCI CASCADE organized a Candle Light Congregation and seminar on ‘Consumer Action Against Counterfeiting and Smuggling’ at Lucknow on 11th April, 2013 to engage all relevant stakeholders to sensitize and fight against the menace of counterfeiting and smuggling. Hon’ble Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Abhishek Mishra inaugurated the seminar by lighting a candle and initiated apledge with around 500 school students to take proactive action and “Quit Fake” and “Fightsmuggling”. The candle light congregation and the seminar witnessed enthusiastic participation of young students and other stakeholders including experts from industry, administration, consumer rights organisation to jointly curb the menace of counterfeiting and smuggling.
Hon’ble Minister Prof. Mishra in his special address emphasised on the participation of youth in the movement to “catch them young”. In his extensive address he stated that a lot can be done if the consumers realise their worth, such products are available because there is a market for it and people buy it. If consumers realise the hazards posed by them and stop buying such products the manufacturing can also be curbed. He also stressed on the “invisible enemy” referred to FICCI CASCADE research report titled “Socio-economic impact of counterfeiting and smuggling and taxevasion in seven key industry sectors”. The seminar further focused on consumer sensitization as an important catalyst to curb this menace. To move farther in the paradigm of curbing counterfeiting and smuggling the seminar focused on sharing information with consumers on aspects related to identification of genuine products. It also aimed on exploring technological solutions to prevent counterfeiting and smuggling by enabling the end user to accurately verify the genuine products.
Youth festival, VIPS
3/4/2013 | New delhi
CASCADE with Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, GGSIPU organized a youth festival onthe theme “Youth Against Counterfeiting and Smuggling” on 8th March, 2013. Sensitization about the issues is the dire need of the hour and giving this movement in the hands of the youth is very essential because any movement taken in hands by the youth has far reaching and long lasting impact. Our youth can make people aware about the issue, they can very well make them identify the real issueand find solutions for the same. Ideas planted by the youth themselves elicit maximum mileage. We therefore propose to integrate this group as one of the spearheads to penetrate into the psyche of thepeople to promote the cause. The youth festivals had an array of events including Case Study Competition, Poster making, T-shirt designing, Photography Competition, Theme Song, TheatricalPerformance, Skits, Elocutions and Quiz all in keeping with the theme of the event “Youth against Smuggling and Counterfeiting”.
Confluence ’13 Youth Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting, New Delhi
4/3/2013 | New Delhi
FICCI CASCADE organised a youth festival in collaboration with Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies in the University of Delhi. Hon’ble Minster for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Mr. Ajay Maken while inaugurating the FICCI CASCADE youth festival called for drive against smuggling andcounterfeiting to plug fiscal deficit. He further said “the report released by FICCI-CASCADE highlighting the impact of counterfeit and smuggling on seven key sectors of the economy and the lossto government is a right step in creating awareness.” Mr Maken said that it was very important for this “invisible enemy” to become visible and customer awareness is an extremely important step for this inaddition to supply chain management and enforcement. It was highlighted that if products like alcohol and tobacco are fake and counterfeit, the harm is increased manifold.
Dr. Arbind Prasad, Director General FICCI welcoming the Minister, stated that, “It is extremely important to understand the impact on society in terms of the involvement of organised crime cartels who are the people engaged in the nefarious activities of fake, counterfeit and smuggled goods. The main thrust of FICCI-CASCADE is creating awareness. This is being done through engagement withConsumer Affairs Ministry in the Jago Grahak Jago” programme, working with youth in various festivals and also creating a knowledge base like the study released to study the economic impact offake, counterfeit and smuggled goods.
‘Confluence’ 13 had an array of events including Case Study Competition, Poster making, T-shirt painting, On-line photography competition, Broad walk Empire, Bid to win and ‘The Ultimate leader’, all in keeping with the theme of the event “Youth against Smuggling and Counterfeiting”.
Cross country race, New Delhi
2/3/2013 | New Delhi
FICCI CASCADE firmly believes in the power, zeal and enthusiasm of the youth of the country. Young management students of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and other colleges of University of Delhi participated in a Cross Country Race Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting organized at the Rugby grounds, North Campus on 2nd March, 2013.
Over 150 students from various colleges of Delhi University daunting the slogan of “Quit Fakes” ran forthe cause. Mr. Arjun Vajpai, the youngest Mountaineer to climb Mount Everest addressed the students and flagged off the race, Mr. Deep Chand, Retd. Special Commissioner Delhi Police. Advisor,FICCI CASCADE graced the event with his esteemed presence and informed the students that this issue is not only related to industry or economy but is posing a threat to the national security. He urgedthe students to “Quit Fakes” and not to encourage the sales of these products.
The race was a huge success and the first of its kind across Delhi University. The winners, Jitendra Kumar from Shyamlal College(category male) and Meenu Dabas from Miranda College (category female) received prizes .The youngest runner Dev (12 years) from Push panjali Public School was also awarded a special prize.
FICCI-CASCADE Seminar on ‘Curbing Counterfeiting and Smuggling – An Imperative for Indian Economy, Tamil Nadu
22/2/2013 | Tamil Nadu
The 8th consultation at Chennai brought experts to raise the concern over the growing illicit trade andto create large-scale awareness among the impacted segments of the society. The cause the seminar witnessed huge participation of over 100 delegates. Mr. M Rafeeque Ahmed, Chairman, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council welcomed the dignitaries and highlighted the objectives of the seminar like generating awareness, interaction with law enforcement agencies and sharing best practices.The seminar was inaugurated by Hon’bleMr. Justice K N Basha, Judge, Madras High Court, he stated that the problem of smuggling and counterfeiting is the worst evil faced by the economy of the country. Justice Basha also stated that such activities cause damage to the industry, loss to the exchequer, revenue and tax problem to the government and a huge loss to the public at large, he emphasized on the enlightenment of the society, “unless the mind set changes the society will not change”.
Ms. Mala Srivastava, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Tamil Nadu said that counterfeiting and smuggling continue to thrive globally due to the weakness of the consumers desire to acquire branded products at low cost and the lack of awareness about the hazards adds to this menace. She emphasized on discarding the fake products and to awaken the spirit among all individuals and to take a pledge and work towards the common aim.
Mr. P Murari IAS (Retd.) Advisor to FICCI President & Former Secretary to President of India appreciated FICCI CASCADE for its initiative and advocated to have Fast Track Court to solve this menace. Recalling Mahatma Gandhi he quoted his words “There is enough in this country to satisfyman’s need but not enough to satisfy man’s greed”.
Seminar observed editorial support from three leading newspapers, Mr. K. T. Jagannathan, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu raised his support to the cause and asked for the support of the masses tofight this evil. Mr. R Bhagwan Singh, Consulting Editor, Deccan Chronicle shared his experiences andpledged for the editorial support. He emphasized on “ask for the bill’ and also address the youth andsaid that media will be your platform. Mr. G Babu Jayakumar, Deputy Resident Editor, The New IndianExpress quoted counterfeiting and smuggling as a crime and seek information from the industry toeliminate unscrupulous activities.
Ms.Kalpana Reddy, First Secretary, US Patent & Trademark Office, U.S. Department of Commercehighlighted various legal options – civil, criminal and administrative for the enforcement of IntellectualProperty Rights. She presented various dimensions of IP crimes. IP Crimes lead to economic harm torights holders, revenue loss to the states, consumer confusions, public health and safety etc.The seminar ended with a common view that the problem of counterfeiting and smuggling ismultifaceted and complex and need to be discussed time and again, with government, to emphasizeon effective and adequate laws and enforcement; increasing engagement with the industry and mostimportantly creating awareness in the society to curb the menace of counterfeiting and smuggling.
FICCI CASCADE Seminar on Curbing Counterfeiting and Smuggling – An Imperative for Indian Economy, BIHAR
16/1/2013 | Bihar
The 7th consultation organized at Patna on 16th January, 2013 was inaugurated by Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Patna, Shri Sushil Kumar Modi; Mr. Sanjay Bhartiya, Additional Advocate General Government of Bihar, Patna High Court; Mr.Swayam Prakash, Editor, Prabhat Khabar; Ms Kalpana Reddy, First Secretary US Embassy; Mr. J N Singh , Awake India Foundation; Mr.Sunil Kumar, Cell for Consumer Education and Advocacy; Mr. S D Sanjay, Secretary General, BiharIndustries Association; Mr.KishoriLal, Commissioner Customs and Excise Preventive, Bihar; Mr. J SGangwar, Inspector General Darbhanga Zone, Bihar Police and Mr.Parminder Singh , Head IP PolicyAsia – Pacific HP joined the consultation.
The seminar was attended by over 260 delegates hailing from all the sections of the society, the local industry, industry chambers, farmers, students as well as consumer rights organizations. An extensiveoverview was delivered to the gathering about the ‘disastrous effects of counterfeiting and smuggling on the Indian economy in the form of health and safety risks to the consumers and public at large.During the seminar it was highlighted that the annual loss to the government in the year 2012 due tofake and spurious goods is Rs. 26,190 Crores.
Based on their experiences and knowledge, the esteemed guests, highlighted the problems and the necessity and urgency to curb the menace and its ill effects on the trade especially in the tobacco/cigarettes/ alcohol and FMCG products in Bihar. Active participation of the gathering brought to thenotice of the esteemed dignitaries that Patna city is the hub of all the counterfeit and fake products.The importance of the seminar was highlighted and examples were cited that demonstrated the lack of enforcement of trademarks and copyrights and its effect on the trade and manufactures. Theaudience posed inquisitive questions which were responded optimistically by the experts. It wasagreed that there is an urgent need for a conjoint effort, whether it is the enforcement agencies orFICCI or custom officials or general public, to work together to curb the menace of counterfeiting andsmuggling. Mr.Gangwar, IG, Bihar Police stressed that crimes of the nature being discussed in theseminar are now a priority for his department. The seminar was successful to the extend police hascome down more aggressively in Patna district in the period February – June 2013.
Sensitization workshop on Fight Smuggling and Counterfeiting, Patna
16/1/2013 | Patna
FICCI CASCADE on 16th January, 2013 organized a sensitization workshop at Rameshwar Das Panna Lal Mahila College(RPM college), Patna to sensitize young college girls about the growing ill effects of counterfeiting and smuggling. The workshop witnessed enthusiastic participation of over 100 students and teachers at the Mahila College. The basics of problem of counterfeiting and fake products especially FMCG sector such as cosmetics, toothpaste, etc as well as pharmaceuticals and counterfeit alcohols were discussed.
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Seminar on “Building a Consumer Rights Movement- Empowering the Consumer of Today, New Delhi
20/12/2012 | New Delhi
As part of its efforts to create awareness, commissioned a special study on the impact of smuggling and counterfeiting on seven key sectors of the economy. The report, prepared by the Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI), New Delhi, made a pioneering attempt to estimate the size of the ‘grey market’ for selected industry sectors in India and projected the economic loss to industry, government and consequent social impact.
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“National Consumer Rights Meet” on The future of Consumer Rights Movement”, New Delhi
19/12/2012 | New Delhi
Consumer Rights Activists from various states of India gathered to discuss the future course of the Consumer Rights Movement. During the keynote address on the occasion, Mr. Pankaj Agrawala, secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs said that, “The market was becoming very complex with service industry overtaking the manufacturing industry.” He said that a sizeable section of the population was not even aware of quality products. He wanted consumer organisations to be more active in creating awareness and assured that the Ministry of Consumers Affairs will lend their complete support in their efforts . Mr. Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI-CASCADE said that, “Awareness is the beginning of change.” He said that FICCI-CASCADE would continue its efforts to create consumer awareness through various campaigns throughout the nation.
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