World Anti-Counterfeiting Day tackles piracy

The World Anti-Counterfeiting Day enables the organisation of various events focusing on particular problems of counterfeiting and piracy under the umbrella of an international outreach campaign.

In 2012, the WSC has established an Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force amongst the semiconductor industry associations of China, Chinese Taipei, Europe, Japan, Korea, and the United States, with the aim of promoting activities to fight counterfeiting, including training, awareness raising, and encouraging purchases from authorised sources.

The WSC works closely with governments and authorities on policies and regulations, and encourages domestic, bilateral and multilateral counter-measures and enforcement activities. Such enhanced anti-counterfeiting cooperation activities at the industry level alongside government agencies, customs and law enforcement agencies is instrumental to identify and stop parties involved in manufacturing or trafficking in counterfeit goods.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), international trade in counterfeit goods represented up to 3.3% of world trade, or up to $509 billion. In view of these staggering numbers, the WSC is convinced by the importance of an initiative such as the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day, especially as counterfeit products are expected to circulate rapidly to meet current high demand, and believes it to be a great way of highlighting the common cause of fighting counterfeiting – industry sectors alongside well-informed customers, and national enforcement authorities.