From 28 March to 1 April 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a National Workshop on Combatting Counterfeiting and Piracy in Thailand. The Workshop was held thanks to financial support from the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan (CCF/Japan) and in collaboration with the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building for Asia/Pacific (ROCB A/P).

As part of this mission, the border enforcement system in place in Thailand to protect intellectual property rights (IPRs) was analysed by a WCO expert using the WCO Self-Assessment Tool. The results revealed that Thailand already has a robust system enabling Thai Customs to implement appropriate IPR enforcement at its borders. Thai Customs has, nevertheless, made additional efforts to render its border enforcement system even more effective through improvements that will come to light in a few months’ time.

The IPR experts from the WCO, Japan Customs and the ROCB A/P shared their knowledge with participants on effective risk management techniques and ways of exchanging information among Customs officials from various WCO Members. Participants were also able to exchange views with some right holders, who joined the Workshop either in-person or remotely, in order  to develop cooperation with the common goal of stopping counterfeit goods at borders.

Through group discussions during the Workshop, participants were tasked with identifying potential future actions by Thai Customs to enhance its IPR border enforcement still further.