Washington & Brussels, 10th September 2020: TIC Council Americas, the Americas branch of the TIC Council, announced today a 3-part virtual panel series to be hosted in September and October 2020

The panels will explore the scope of online fraud and the sale of counterfeit products and the impact of these activities on industry, government, and consumers. In its final panel, TIC Council will discuss with industry and regulators the efforts underway to address online fraud and the sale of counterfeit goods and seek pathways for action.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has reported a steady increase in trade in fake goods – citing a growth of 154% from 2005 to 2016[1]. In the United States, Customers and Border Patrol (CBP) continues to track and seize shipments of counterfeit items, reporting in 2017 that Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) seizures had increased with 8%. In 2020, CBP seized $900,000 in counterfeit United States currency in a commercial rail shipment[2] and as of June had seized more than 107 thousand FDA-prohibited COVID-19 test kids, 750 thousand masks[3], and over $108,000 in fake luxury brand products[4].

TIC Council Americas Acting Executive Director, Karin Athanas highlighted that: “The virtual panel series is the culmination of months of discussions and coordination with our industry partners and regulatory contacts to help bring visibility to this critical issue. There is great work being done but continued focus and effort is needed to ensure positive change. We hope through these discussions to bring light to some of the challenges industry and consumers are facing and identify win-win solutions and actions that can be taken moving forward.

For additional information and to register to attend the series, visit the TIC Council website at https://www.tic-council.org/or reach out to Karin Athanas at kathanas@tic-council.org

About TIC Council

TIC Council is the global trade federation representing the independent third-party Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) industry which brings together more than 90-member companies and organizations from around the world to speak with one voice. Its members provide services across a wide range of sectors: consumer products, medical devices, petroleum, mining and metals, food, and agriculture among others. Through the provision of these services, TIC Council members assure that not only regulatory requirements are met, but also that reliability, economic value, and sustainability are enhanced.  TIC Council’s members are present in more than 160 countries and employ more than 300,000 people across the globe.

 

Media enquiries:

Laura Martin 

Communications Manager

 

TIC Council

Rue du Commerce 20/22

B-1000 Brussels

tel: +32 2 5115065

email: lmartin@tic-council.org

website: www.tic-council.org


[1] OECD/EUIPO, Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods, Illicit Trade, OECD Publishing, Paris/ European Union Intellectual Property Office, (Mar. 18, 2019), https://doi.org/10.1787/g2g9f533-en

[2] https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-officers-seize-900k-worth-counterfeit-us-currency

[3] https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-continues-seize-large-number-counterfeit-and-unapproved-covid-19

[4] https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-seizes-counterfeit-goods-valued-over-108k