The second meeting of directors of customs and related organisations of Central America and the Caribbean opened in Panama City, Panama on Tuesday, May 3rd, with calls for the region to do more to tackle smuggling and counterfeiting of goods.
The conference, seeking to address organised crime and the contraband and counterfeiting of goods, is being held at the El Panama Hotel and is being attended by customs chiefs of a number of Caribbean countries, including Guyana. Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Director General of the Panamanian National Customs Authority, Dr Gloria Moreno de Lopez, told delegates that one of the first steps to tackling the scourge of counterfeiting is strong international property rights law. She said that, with this law, each country will be able to put a dent on the counterfeit trade that has brought enormous prosperity to some while stifling the growth of legitimate businesses.
In Panama, contraband tobacco represents 70 per cent of the market, which means the government loses more than US$25 million per year in revenues. Economists have argued that trade in counterfeit products is reaching epidemic proportions and is “perhaps the world’s fastest growing and most profitable business”. Hundreds of billions of dollars are generated, while the economy is sapped, putting lives in jeopardy and funding organised crime in the process.
Guyanese consumers have pointed out that sometimes they got value for money with the fake goods; and with the economic realities here, it would be difficult for them to survive if they were to buy the genuine items.
Panama Customs currently has a Department of Intellectual Property and Copyright, which works in coordination with the Department of Customs Control and Prevention (DPFA) in withholding suspected counterfeit goods at the country’s border crossings.
Dr de Lopez said that improving container security at Panama’s ports is a priority, since more than 11 million containers pass through the Panama Canal every year. She pointed out that, last year, in an effort to strengthen maritime security in Central America, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Panama launched a joint programme intended to prevent illicit and counterfeit goods from entering markets through sea ports.
Under the programme, the Centre of Excellence on Maritime Security in Panama City was launched, and a regional office for Central America, Cuba and the Dominican Republic was opened with financial support from the Panamanian government. The centre will help identify threats to maritime security, and serve as a repository of expertise, training, data collection and analysis. UNODC’s new operational hub in Panama City will also allow the organisation to provide more effective advisory services to countries in the region. Dr de Lopez said that, since joining UNODC’s World Customs Organisation Global Container Control Programme last year, Panama has significantly increased the number of containers of illicit goods seized at sea ports.
Caribbean fight against counterfeit
Caribbean officials at the conference have said that tackling counterfeiting is not a new issue, and the lack of support from owners of trademarks has been the main challenge.
Jamaica’s Customs Chief, Danville Walker, told reporters that it is costly for Caribbean countries, after seizing these goods, to pursue litigation, store them and also dispose of them without the support of the trademark owners. “So I think we will never be able to really put a dent on this, unless the owners of the brand have a medium (through) which they can enforce the rules.”
He posited that most Caribbean countries are more focused on fighting narco- and firearms’ trafficking. “We consider the protection of proper rights important because it is a significant trade issue; but, in some countries, it pales in comparison to drugs, firearms and the evasion of duties.” Walker said the region was only as good as the resources it has to fight the scourge.
Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur, acknowledged that the main dealers in counterfeit source their goods from China. He said GRA had a right to protect legitimate businesses, and it has been doing so.
