Bill Newton Dunn MEP (East Midlands) today challenged the EU to develop consumer centred responses that will protect citizens from increasingly convincing fake goods and services being sold in conventional supply lines across the EU.

Newton Dunn, who is co-founder of the European Parliamentary Forum for the Combat of Counterfeit, Contraband and Organised Crime said,

"Every time somebody buys a cheap fake, the money goes to criminals, some of whom are linked to terrorists."

"With 27 new Commissioners now is the time to maximize the use of existing consumer protection, as well as supporting effective law enforcement.

“Counterfeiting is like any other consumer deception. I’m excited to see the evolution of thinking in these terms at the Commission, in the private sector and in civil society. We need to develop effective responses based on the consumer, as well as on intellectual property rights.”

Meeting with stakeholders in the European Parliament, Newton Dunn highlighted the need to raise awareness of these issues among MEPs and national parliamentarians, saying:

"Next June we will host a counterfeiting exhibition that will show just how many goods are faked, and how far criminals will go. I hope that politicians and policy-makers will come to that exhibition and see for themselves the extent of the problem we face."

ENDS.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Participants also discussed new research conducted by Edelman for Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP), launched yesterday at the Global Congress Combatting Counterfeiting & Piracy yesterday. This 18-month study of consumer attitudes and behaviours towards counterfeiting and piracy has shown that a radical change in methods and more aggressive campaigns targeting consumers are needed, in order to convey the right messages to curb the demand for counterfeit goods and services.[1] <#_ftn1>
At that same event the OECD revised their estimate of size of the cross border trade in counterfeits to $250bn per year - a sum greater than the annual GDP of more than 150 economies.

Microsoft is today unveiling its own research highlighting the impact of counterfeit software on consumers. Microsoft has received over a 150,000 reports from consumers in the past two years detailing their negative experiences with counterfeit software. That number is double the amount from previous years. Counterfeit copies of software expose customers to viruses, fraud, data loss or damage, critical computer failures and more. In many instances malicious code was found to have been deliberately placed on counterfeit products at the point of manufacture, begging questions as to who is behind these operations, and with what intentions.

The Forum on Counterfeit, Contraband and Organised Crime is a cross-party, multi-stakeholder body that aims to draw attention to the threats posed by contraband and counterfeit trade, particularly its links with international Organised Crime.

The Forum's counterfeiting exhibition will be held in the week of 21-25 June 2010 in the European Parliament in Brussels.