COUNTERFEITING: Dem’s the fakes

Have you ever eyed a fake watch in a market? Spied a Louis Vuitton rip off? Or been approached by a Chinese guy hoping to sell you a rip-off DVD? Let’s face it we’ve all been tempted.

Perhaps some of us have even succumbed to temptation and are proudly sporting a fake Cartier watch as we read. Counterfeiting is all around us – be it jeans or be it a dodgy 10 pound note – in some way all of us will have come across rip-offs at some point in our lives.

But what about when it comes also to our working lives? What about counterfeiting in the drinks trade – are you aware of how much is going on? Or do you think that it is a problem just for a few of us who ship to the Far East?

Across the categories counterfeiting in all of its forms accounts for 8% of total world trade, it is a multi-billion euro industry and is usually perpetrated by the poor people of a criminal persuasion, some terrorists and even rogue government agencies.

Counterfeiting and piracy cost the G20 governments and consumers an estimated e100 billion (£91.2bn) every year, in the UK it is thought that 380,000 jobs are destroyed as a result of the phenomenon and it costs us e4.1bn a year, according to a BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy) carried out in May this year.

It is predominantly an international issue which becomes more prevalent in the run-up to Christmas and statistically speaking is more frequent during recession when it can be more attractive to some retailers as a short-term fix for quick cash flow.

There is no doubt that if counterfeiting happens to your brand or in your shop or outlet it can be damaging for business, not to mention the possible health risks for the consumer.

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