WCO honoured with global anti-counterfeiting award
Brussels, 7 June 2012
Press Release
The World Customs Organization (WCO) was presented with an award by the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG) network in the international public body category; the awards for 2012 were announced at a ceremony in Paris, France today.
“The awards this year again highlight the wide range of cooperation that is needed, and provided, by different individuals and organizations across the public/private sector divide, in the campaign against the international trade in fakes,” said GACG Chairman, John Anderson.
The WCO has played an active role on the international stage to combat counterfeiting and piracy as part of its efforts to protect consumer health and safety, and promote respect for intellectual property rights (IPR).
“The WCO is proud that its IPR capacity building and enforcement efforts have been recognized by the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (CACG) network,” said WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya. “It is even more fitting that we received this award on World Anti-Counterfeiting Day,” he added.
Anti-counterfeiting and piracy activities pursued by the WCO include a vigorous capacity building programme to strengthen the enforcement capabilities of the WCO's 177 Member Customs administrations, thereby facilitating the implementation of the WTO TRIPS Agreement.
The WCO also supports various anti-counterfeiting and piracy field operations and events, in conjunction with its partners across the globe, in an effort to stop dangerous counterfeit goods and fake medicines from reaching the market.
To facilitate the exchange of information between Customs administrations and right holders, in 2010 the WCO launched its new anti-counterfeiting and piracy tool, known as the Interface Public-Members or IPM.
IPM enables right holders to share real-time information with Customs administrations, to enable Customs officials on the ground to speedily distinguish between fake and genuine goods, thus assisting their enforcement efforts.
GACG is an informal network of national and regional IP protection and enforcement organizations, whose aim is to exchange and share best practices and information, and to participate in appropriate joint activities to solve IPR enforcement challenges.
The network, which has a strong international dimension to its activities, currently has 22 members covering nearly 40 countries plus direct informal contacts with many more national and industry associations.
More information
Learn about IPM: http://ipmpromo.wcoomdpublications.org/