TÜV SÜD intensifies procedure to track down quality mark counterfeiters
Munich. The Single European Market is being flooded with increasing numbers of counterfeit products. These fakes not only cause financial losses for manufacturers, but also generate major safety problems for consumers when statutory safety tests are sidestepped in their production. TÜV SÜD has joined forces with customs authorities to establish stricter procedures against counterfeiting. Only recently a load of car jacks bearing fake quality marks and with major safety flaws was impounded at the Finnish border.
"The business of counterfeiting products and quality marks is anything but a peccadillo", warns Dirk Eilers, CEO of the Product Services Division at TÜV SÜD AG. "Product piracy not only causes immense damage to the economy as a whole, but also gambles with the safety and health of consumers." The German Ministry for the Economy (BMWi) estimates that in 2008, product piracy generated damages of 15 billion euros and the loss of approximately 70,000 jobs in Germany alone. "Of course, when counterfeit products are placed on the market the statutory regulations concerning safety-relevant testing are also subverted – for example, those defined in the German Equipment and Product Safety Act", explains Joachim Birnthaler, CEO of TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH. "As a consequence, risk-laden or unsafe products increasingly make their way onto the market."
More rigorous procedures to stamp out piracy represent consumer protection in action
Since pirated products generally also bear fake quality marks, TÜV SÜD has decided to take stricter action against the manufacturers and distributors of the counterfeit products. "This is an important step to protect not only our brand and our customers, but also consumers in general", stresses Birnthaler. TÜV SÜD is thus a founder member of Certification Industry against Counterfeiting (CIAC), an alliance of leading international product certification organizations. CIAC members take global action, coordinated by Interpol, to track down product piracy, quality-mark fraud and "quality mark tourism" – with great success. "Only recently, we worked with the Finnish customs authority to stop a consignment of fake car jacks at the EU border; the products represented a safety hazard and were destroyed", reports Joachim Birnthaler. "This is a remarkable achievement, primarily because the product pirates had shown enormous criminal energy, concealing the actual origins of the goods and the routes taken by the consignment."
TÜV SÜD works with customs authorities, market surveillance bodies and police
The discovery and tracing of counterfeit products involves extensive inspection efforts. In order to catch the products directly at the EU's external borders, TÜV SÜD and the other CIAC members work closely with European customs authorities on border seizure operations. "But even if pirated products actually make it onto the market, the pressure of inspections is maintained by national market surveillance authorities and Criminal Investigation Departments", stresses Birnthaler. When pirated products are discovered they are removed from the market and the "ringleaders" face legal proceedings. Abuse of registered trademarks, adds Birnthaler, can result in heavy fines and prison sentences of up to five years.
Dirk Eilers believes this in-depth global collaboration between CIAC, customs and market surveillance authorities and police will continue to improve the detection rate of fraudulent activities. "We will continuously step up our battle against the product pirates and extend the protective measures which have been successful in Europe into other regions", announces the TÜV SÜD CEO-Division, explaining that by doing so, TÜV SÜD is protecting more than its own quality mark and brand name. "After all", summarizes Eilers, "when unsafe counterfeit products are removed from the market, this primarily benefits consumers too."
Note for editorial staff:The photograph of Joachim Birnthaler, CEO of TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH, can be downloaded in print-ready quality from www.tuev-sued.de/company/press/image_library in the section "Current Press Photos". |