The World Customs Organization (WCO) is pleased to join the international community in celebrating World Intellectual Property Day 2018 under the theme “Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity," celebrating the ingenuity, creativity and courage of women around the world who, thanks to the support of a proper IP system, can bring their ideas to life and contribute to stronger economic growth and cultural wealth.

“Given the importance of encouraging and helping women transform their creative aspirations and ideas into life-changing inventions, the World IP day is a reminder to all of us of the importance of having strong national Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) systems to better protect citizens from the dangers of counterfeit goods but also to safeguard innovation as a whole. On this special day, I would like to reaffirm the WCO’s dedication to leading Customs in the global fight against counterfeiting and piracy,” said WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya.

Thanks to its IPR, Health and Safety Programme, revolving around raising awareness and providing capacity building activities, the WCO dedicates important resources to ensure that its Members are properly equipped, both on a policy and operational level, to fight against counterfeiting and piracy on a yearly basis.

Alongside its support to the theme of the World Intellectual Property Day 2018, the WCO is partnering with “Women in Trade Network” to broaden the discussions about the role of Customs in protecting national borders from the illicit flows of counterfeit and pirated goods, and ultimately create the right environment for women to bring ideas to market.