Intensive battle against counterfeit goods needed
Intensive battle against counterfeit goods needed
The damage to intellectual property rights by counterfeit goods is considered a serious issue globally which has negative economic impacts in nations around the world, according to a senior customs official.
The Ministry of Finance's Customs Department Deputy Director General, Mr Bounpaseuth Sikounlabout, said at a workshop yesterday that Laos pays close attention to dealing with the unsolved issues, especially in the customs sector.
The day-long workshop was jointly hosted by REACT (the anti-counterfeiting not-for-profit network) and the Lao Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Bounpaseuth said that counterfeit goods were directly threatening health, safety and the security of people, saying that over many years the World Customs Organisation has been giving close attention to building capacity for customs officers around the world.
“The Lao government also considers this a fundamental issue and has assigned the relevant government sectors to deal with it in terms of the inspection, management and control of counterfeit goods,” he said.
For a long time the customs sector has been cracking down on counterfeit products and illegally imported goods.
“Every regulation is already included in the revised laws which were presented to the international bodies to ensure they matched the requirements of the World Trade Organisation,” Mr Bounpaseuth said.
He said Laos now has existing laws and various regulations to tackle counterfeit products but several challenges also gave problems for the customs officers.
“I hope this workshop will enable our trainees to gain a wide range of knowledge and skills, which will be provided by the many experienced international trainers who will give their presentations today,” he added.
Executive Director of IPR Business Partnership, Mr David Blakemore also commented that counterfeit goods were a challenging issue for customs officers in many countries around the world and it was not easy to tackle such a complicated issue.
“As a former customs officer, I think it is impossible for customs officers to check goods in every container when it comes to the importing process at the border,” he said.
Mr Blakemore said it was lucky for Lao customs officers to have a chance to share the ideas and experience of various experts from many countries in the Asia and Pacific region.
REACT has over 20 years experience in fighting the counterfeit goods trade from its headquarters in the Netherlands.
REACT's Asia and Pacific Manager, Mr Ray Tay and other international speakers were invited to the workshop so they could talk about brand protection, anti-illicit trade and global security.
Most interestingly, the senior managers of countries in the Asia and Pacific region were representing various world leading electronic companies such as Philips, Nokia, Apple and other companies to present Lao customs officers with strategies for brand protection and other related issues.
vientiane times
