GIPC Praises New Campaign to Warn Public About Counterfeit
GIPC President & CEO David Hirschmann today praised a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) campaign, “The Truth Behind Counterfeits”, which is intended to educate the public on the dangers of counterfeit goods. The campaign will take place through July 2017 at six of the nation’s busiest airports, including: Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport; Chicago O’Hare International Airport; Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; Los Angeles International Airport; New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.
In praising the initiative, Hirschmann stated: “America’s economy runs on authentic innovation. Criminals trafficking in illicit trade threaten America’s prosperity and may jeopardize the health and safety of unwitting consumers. We applaud U.S. Customs and Border Protection for recognizing the global scope of counterfeiting and the need to educate consumers on how to protect themselves. We hope this initiative will make travelers more aware of the significant problem and real dangers of counterfeit goods.”
GIPC’s 2016 report, Measuring the Magnitude of Global Counterfeiting, highlighted the most recent data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that showed that worldwide counterfeiting has grown at an exponential rate to its current value of a $461 billion-a-year problem. That number is almost double previous estimates from 2008 and is more than double the value of the 2014 profits of the world’s top 10 companies, combined. Read more about the CBP’s “The Truth Behind Counterfeits” campaign here.
