INTA Co-hosts Policy Dialogue in Belgium on the Health and Safety Risks of Counterfeiting

Published: January 15, 2020

INTA, together with the Belgian anticounterfeiting association (ABAC-BAAN) and Asian Coalition Against Counterfeiting And Piracy (ACACAP), held an anticounterfeiting policy dialogue in Brussels, Belgium, on December 10, 2019, focused on the health and safety ramifications of counterfeiting.

Among the participants were representatives from the International Chamber of Commerce in the European Union (ICC EU) and the French Association to Promote and Defend Intellectual Property (UNIFAB); officials from the European Commission, European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, and the European Consumer Center-Belgium; brand owners from several sectors, including Toy Industries of Europe, Laboratoires Servier, Daimler; Procter & Gamble, and the Spanish Technological Institute (AIJU), which focuses on toys, infant products, and leisure.

Key recommendations put forward by the panelists included the need for an EU-wide awareness campaign tailored for each EU member state; an intellectual property (IP)-coordinator to focus on the fight against counterfeiting at the European Commission level; and raising IP crime as an EU priority, notably for Europol’s upcoming 2021 Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) report.

INTA’s Europe Representative Office, based in Brussels, Belgium, represents the Association’s 1,800+ members across Europe (including those in EU and non-EU member states, and Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States). Working in collaboration with staff at INTA’s headquarters in New York City, the Europe Representative Office leads the Association’s policy, membership, marketing, and communications initiatives throughout the region. To learn more about INTA’s activities in Europe, please contact INTA Chief Representative OfficerEurope Hélène Nicora at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter at @INTABrussels.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of items in the INTA Bulletin, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.

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