France: government moves against counterfeiting

Jean-François Copé, France's Minister for Finance, launched a 'general move against counterfeiting', which 'is a threat to the health and safety of French people'. He did it in Cannes yesterday by taking part in the destruction of tens of thousands of counterfeit objects organized by the Union of Manufacturers which includes some of the most copied brands at world level.

Together with ministers François Loos (Industry) and Christian Estrosi (Territorial Management), Copé climbed onto a bulldozer which crushed and destroyed a mountain of watches, bags, wallets, suitcases, clothing and shoes with fake signatures (Dior, Ray-Ban, Armani, Rolex, Vuitton and Nike, just to mention a few) which were seized by customs and had an overall value of around 16 million euros.

The French authorities' participation in the operation was a symbolic act which launched a public awareness-raising campaign: anyone buying counterfeit goods is in fact an accessory to a crime and can be prosecuted.

'All production sectors are affected by this phenomenon, including the pharmaceutical industry, as the recent seizure of counterfeit packs of Viagra has shown' Copé pointed out. 'In the European Union, the number of seizures quadrupled between 1999 and 2003. In France the number of articles increased from 300 thousand in 1995 to 3.5 million in 2004' he added.

François Mongin, the Director General of the Customs also present at Cannes, emphasized that holding a counterfeit article is a 'permanent crime and is subject to severe penalties' (from a fine of 300 thousand euros to a three-year prison term).

The Union of Producers estimates that counterfeiting affects one in two companies in France and represented a loss in earnings of 6 billion euros in 2004 as well as the loss of thousands of jobs.

(Source: Afp)