News

The IPR Center Report

Partners in Action

Volume 2, No. 2 • June 2009

WCO Enforcement Committee Advocates Anti-Counterfeiting Initiatives

The 28th Session of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Enforcement Committee convened in Brussels from February 23–27, 2009.The Enforcement Committee was established in 1983 for the purpose of developing strategies to combat a wide range of customs offenses, including commercial fraud, money laundering, e-crime, intellectual property rights (IPR) and narcotics trafficking. This annual session was attended by over 200 delegates representing more than 75 countries. At the end of the week, the Enforcement Committee, vicechaired by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director of Investigations Marcy M. Forman, endorsed several WCO initiatives, including operations to combat the importation of goods that adversely affect public health and safety.

These initiatives were immediately acted upon, and the WCO sponsored a regional health and safety workshop in Mombasa, Kenya from April 20–24, 2009. The workshop was designed to enhance IPR enforcement capacity within the region, with a focus on the importation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other dangerous goods. This multi-faceted WCO customs training consisted of both classroom instruction and practical exercises held at the Mombasa seaport and airport.

The workshop also provided training on product identification conducted by various rights holders and on the targeting of in transit and imported counterfeit merchandise. A representative from ICE also presented an overview of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and IPR best practices.

Instructors for the various courses included customs investigators from the WCO, Belgium, France, Germany and the United States. Classroom participants included working level customs officials from 18 East African nations such as: Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles,Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, among others.