A senior European Union (EU) official on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of more legislation in the fight against counterfeiting, urging industry sectors to take the lead.
"I am convinced that more legislation is not the solution here," said Charlie McCreevy, EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, when addressing a high-level conference on counterfeiting and piracy supported by the European Commission.
He said industry sectors themselves are best placed to lead the battle against pirated goods coming into Europe.
"It is industry that has the inherent knowledge to identify the fake products and to uncover the production and distribution network used to make and sell the counterfeits," he said.
McCreevy pointed out that the problem of counterfeiting may have changed before any new EU rules would be on the statute books.
He also called on industry sectors to cooperate with the authorities and provide the technical expertise enabling the competent authorities to intervene.
According to figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), international trade in counterfeit and pirated goods is estimated to have reached 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, which McCreevy said is becoming a very serious threat to the health and safety of Europeans and to the economic future of the EU.
"The European economy is one of the most effective and competitive in the world. And intellectual property is at the heart of our ability to compete," McCreevy said, adding innovation and creativity of the European economy are getting hurt by pirated goods.
In 2005, European customs seized about 75 million fake articles, ranging from luxury items such as sportswear, watches and jewellery, to more ordinary items that have an impact on personal health and safety such as pain killers, razor blades, baby milk, children's toys and car parts. By 2007 that number had almost doubled to 128 million.
With the spread of internet use, illegal downloading and the sale of counterfeit goods over the internet have caused new problems.
McCreevy said the industry needs agreements between themselves on filters, sanctions and standard reaction on repeated infringement.
"In the end, it is mainly up to the internet service providers and the rights holders to solve the problem of illegal downloading," he said, calling for industry agreements and the voluntary exchange of information.
Source: Xinhua
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