COUNTERFEITING

Report on counterfeiting and organized crime

Download the report: English version
Download the report: Italian version

 

UNICRI has developed the action-oriented project "Counterfeiting of medicines and industrial products that pose a risk to public health and safety", funded by Fondazione CRT, to assess the magnitude of the phenomenon of counterfeiting and in particular the growing involvement of organized crime. In recent years, concerns for public health and safety have increased due to the replication of particular kinds of goods, such as medicines, foods, beverages, toys and spare parts for automobiles and aircrafts. The research focused specifically on counterfeited goods that pose a risk to public health and safety. The research highlights : the root causes of the proliferation of this criminal activity; its social and economic consequences; estimates and data on its diffusion and its impact in different Regions of the world; the structure of the illicit supply chain; its links to organized crime; best practices adopted and several case studies. Close cooperation has been established with the Italian Antimafia Bureau, the Antimafia Investigative Direction, the Italian Customs Agency and Europol for this project. The results of the project are included in the report "Counterfeiting: a global spread, a global threat", presented on 14 December 2007 at Fondazione CRT in Turin. You may view the Table of contents and the Executive summary.

During the realization of the project, UNICRI had the chance to share hypotheses and approaches with several experts. Their direct experience confirmed that the evolution of this illicit activity and its criminological aspects have not been matched by a corresponding response by prosecutors, police, customs officers and the international community as a whole. While counterfeiting became a lucrative international criminal business, the response of law enforcers remained weak, bound to the old concept of counterfeiting, the one made of well hand-crafted bags and luxury goods. This approach should be replaced with a new strategy, giving proper consideration to the seriousness of the crime, its consequences and the characteristics of its perpetrators.

The envisaged strategy should be constantly updated, being quick to respond to the challenges and changes of the phenomenon and flexible in its implementation in different legal/social/economical situations. To this end, an Inter-Agency Permanent Observatory on Counterfeiting should be created. The Permanent Observatory will, among other things, discuss and validate a strategy based on a set of actions targeted to different actors and sectors of activity interested in or by counterfeiting. Envisaged actors and sectors of activity are identified as: the law enforcement sector; customs cooperation; security of the production and distribution chains; consumers and the private sector.

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