Trading Standards says that sharing of intelligence is key to fighting fakes, as MEP gets behind initiative.
A MEMBER of European Parliament is supporting ToyNews’ Fight the Fakes campaign for the prevention of counterfeit toys.
MEP Bill Newton Dunn, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands (pictured), was one of three MEPs that organised an exhibition on counterfeit products in the European Parliament a few years back.
He has called for ‘a European version of the FBI’ to help combat counterfeit toys.
“The problem is, like counterfeit and everything else that is smuggled into Europe, detecting counterfeits is not a priority for the police and for border guards,” he told ToyNews. “Those forces say they only have enough resources to try to deal with the major crimes - terrorism, hard drugs, people trafficking, murder, robbery, etc.
“To effectively combat imports of counterfeit toys and other counterfeits, we would need far greater police resources, plus an instruction from the top to the police to concentrate on counterfeits, and also to start classifying counterfeit toys as crimes (which I suspect they are not), and a police force that can operate everywhere in the free market within Europe,
Trading Standards Institute’s chief executive Ron Gainsford believes that working together and sharing information is the answer.
“The sharing of intelligence between not only enforcement experts but also with economic operators is a prerequisite for good enforcement, safe, genuine products, a fair market and confident consumers,” he added.
“Counterfeit products are dangerous products and can kill. All the more reason for us all to focus on what works, what we have and giving it what it needs to make it better. Good enforcement rests on collaboration between enforcement professionals, like Trading Standards and agencies across local and national boundaries.”
