By TIOL News Service

PARIS, OCT 06, 2013: THE International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), along with its two associates, has urged India to undertake a slew of customs reforms to stop inflow and peddling of counterfeit goods in the country.

The initiatives recommended by joint report include: 1) India should prioritize trademark investigations and seizures amongst customs other border enforcement functions; 2) The Government should provide funding for joint training efforts between Indian customs and key bordering countries customs officials where appropriate. Similarly, considering joint actions key bordering countries; 3) The Customs should focus resources on additional review of parallel imports as a source of counterfeit imports; 4) Government should allocate budget resources to Customs officials and facilities to conduct raids and 5) The authorities should modify the customs registration process to accept a standing bank guarantee as opposed to an open guarantee.

ICC has prepared the report captioned ‘Counterfeiting, Piracy and Smuggling in India – Effects and Potential Solutions’ in partnership Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCP) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The Report says: “Despite the efforts to create a strong legal framework, adequate enforcement of existing IP law remains a serious challenge. Moreover, there has been little effect in terms of practical actions. Further, organized government follow-up and focus on enforcement has been minimal.”

It adds: “First and foremost, the government of India must make anti-counterfeiting,anti-piracy & anti-smuggling efforts a public policy priority. Tangible actions to strengthen IP laws, increase enforcement, and implement increased punishments will help reassure legitimate business owners and consumers that the government is serious about protecting IP rights, and will, in turn, encourage greater support for government policies. Moreover, strengthening India’s IPR enforcement regime will send a message to criminal networks that this activity will no longer be tolerated.”

The report has quoted a FICCI study as stating that the estimated tax losses suffered by Indian exchequer due to counterfeiting and smuggling aggregate to Rs 26,190 crore in a year.