Counterfeit trade US$250 billion a year
‘The counterfeit goods industry is so sophisticated that it is often impossible to distinguish between the real deal and the spurious pretender. It is also cunningly stratified to cater to different sizes of consumer pockets…This is a common occurrence in markets with poor governance structures, especially for goods of high value brands like Swiss watches’. Last month, the United Nations launched a global campaign to highlight the extent of the growing rampancy of trading in counterfeit goods and its irrevocable link with organised crime, thus posing great risks to the international community. According to the world body’s estimates, the volume of trade in counterfeit goods amounts to a whopping US$250 billion a year, which is more than the combined GDP of dozens of nations put together. And these are only estimates. The real figure might be far bigger, going by the extent of such trade across a wide swathe of product categories and its geographical spread. To put this scenario as alarming is to put it rather mildly.
Related Posts
City busts gang of swindlers selling fake iPhones
Shanghai police have busted a gang who conned people by claiming to be employees...
Fake mineral water floods city market
With summer round the corner, it's soon going to be business time for the water...
Fake currency racket busted in Jharkhand, two arrested.
RAMGARH: An inter-state fake currency racket was busted and two persons arrested...
Counterfeit e-commerce: The dark side of WhatsApp
Transgressions attract notice but only when there is a witness. Counterfeits on...