ID :
143531
Sat, 09/25/2010 - 13:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/143531
The shortlink copeid
Quarter of goods in Russian retail trade are forged.
MOSCOW, September 25 (By Itar-Tass World Service writer Lyudmila
Alexandrova) -- A popular Russian TV hostess bought a popular makeup
remover gel at a popular Moscow shop of cosmetics and perfumery. The
popular gel failed to remove anything. It merely smeared the popular face.
After a scandal the customer managed to get her money back.
Yelena Ishcheyeva, a former TV hostess and now manager of the project
TV Banks, narrated this story in her blog.
The chairman of the International Conference of Consumer Societies,
Dmitry Yanin, is quoted by the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, as saying
cosmetics are big business for the makers of counterfeit goods.
"They fake not necessarily the most expensive or luxury brands.
'Recognizable' is the key word here. Makeup can belong with the average
price group," he says.
A quarter of the goods in Russian retail trade is counterfeited. In
general, the turnover of retail trade in forgeries accounts for 6 percent,
or 910 billion rubles. These days forgeries of popular consumer goods are
"hiding behind" high prices. They are drifting from the capital city to
regions and to the Internet, say the authors of a survey by the Higher
School of Economics (HSE), published on Thursday. The survey was ordered
by the Community of Branded Goods' Manufacturers (RusBrand). The
researchers interviewed representatives of companies belonging to the
community, law enforcement, government agencies and lawyers involved in
intellectual property protection.
Earlier, the Interior Ministry said that the proportion of contraband
and counterfeit industry in the market of consumer goods exceeded 50
percent, which defrauds the state of 300 billion rubles in missed taxes
and import duties.
Over the past three years the amount of sold forgeries in Russia has
not decreased, to say the least, while the share of counterfeit goods in
general has remained unchanged, the authors of the survey speculate.
According to first deputy rector of the State University-Higher School
of Economics, Vadim Radayev (a co-author of the study), no reduction in
the number of forgeries of popular brands is observed, and the positive
trends that developed at a certain point have been reduced to nothing by
the financial crisis of 2008-2009. As before, there are nine most
frequently counterfeited categories of goods. They account for 24 percent
of retail turnover. They are alcohol, drugs, clothes, shoes, hygiene
products, cosmetics, tea, coffee, detergents and cleaners. In addition, of
late the counterfeiters have ventured into the agrochemicals market, which
poses a risk to consumers of domestically grown agricultural products.
Premium products are imitated more often - in this case the fake
carries some traits of the genuine corporate brand, and mass products are
usually falsified without much a do.
The flows of counterfeit goods are moving to the local level. Whereas
before forgeries were predominantly foreign (China, Taiwan, the Baltic
States, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan continue to be their
sources), now the proportion of counterfeit goods produced domestically is
growing.
Experts argue that local underground workshops, as a rule, do simple
packaging, bottling or assembling. Individual self-employed businessmen
are good for this job. On the rise are producers who are subject to
protection racketeering by the local authorities and law enforcers. For
example, the study said, involved in the production of fakes are often
such closed institutions as prisons and military units. Another source of
domestic counterfeit goods is the so-called "third work shift." A legally
operating enterprise manufactures unregistered and untaxed products at
night and then markets them through shadow dealers, bypassing the official
channels of distribution.
But the import of counterfeit products seems to have run against a
more reliable barrier, thanks to the efficient operation of the Federal
Customs Service (FCS).
Great risks of counterfeit goods expansion, according to study
authors, are inherent in the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and
Kazakhstan. The number of trademarks in the national customs registers of
Belarus and Kazakhstan is far smaller than that in Russia, the protection
mechanisms are less sophisticated, and monitoring and the law enforcement
agencies are far less active in this field.
Some problems stem from the numerous legislative inconsistencies and
different pricing policies, pursued by the owners of famous brands and
trademarks in different regions of the world. For example, the prices of
international brands in Kazakhstan today are 10-20 percent lower than
those in Russia. For Russia, first and foremost for its budget, this means
a possible increase in the so-called "parallel import", which will not be
legally restricted.
With the abolition of internal borders buying many branded goods,
especially perfumery and cosmetics intended only for Asian markets, say in
Kazakhstan, and then bringing them to Russia will be the simplest way of
"parallel import". The Customs Union could trigger an influx of Chinese
counterfeit goods into Russia, experts warn.
Control of the outer border of Kazakhstan is lax, local customs
officials are in the habit of clearing most of the goods for transit, and
they are hardly able to conduct the required inspections properly, the
daily Vedomosti quotes an officer of the Federal Customs Service as saying.
Market participants feel additional concerns about the weakening of
internal control over counterfeiting by law enforcement agencies. That is
largely due to legislative amendments to restrict the inspections of small
and medium-sized businesses, as well as due to the reduction of criminal
responsibility for economic crimes.
In general, the reasons for complacency are few. Counterfeiting cannot
be eliminated entirely, says Radayev, one can simply reduce its market
share. But, as soon as you give up the fight, it begins to grow at once.
According to the authors of the survey, every effort must be exerted to
increase the activity of brand holders, and to encourage them to work with
relevant business associations and to maintain attempts to strengthen the
protection of intellectual property.
-0-str
Alexandrova) -- A popular Russian TV hostess bought a popular makeup
remover gel at a popular Moscow shop of cosmetics and perfumery. The
popular gel failed to remove anything. It merely smeared the popular face.
After a scandal the customer managed to get her money back.
Yelena Ishcheyeva, a former TV hostess and now manager of the project
TV Banks, narrated this story in her blog.
The chairman of the International Conference of Consumer Societies,
Dmitry Yanin, is quoted by the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, as saying
cosmetics are big business for the makers of counterfeit goods.
"They fake not necessarily the most expensive or luxury brands.
'Recognizable' is the key word here. Makeup can belong with the average
price group," he says.
A quarter of the goods in Russian retail trade is counterfeited. In
general, the turnover of retail trade in forgeries accounts for 6 percent,
or 910 billion rubles. These days forgeries of popular consumer goods are
"hiding behind" high prices. They are drifting from the capital city to
regions and to the Internet, say the authors of a survey by the Higher
School of Economics (HSE), published on Thursday. The survey was ordered
by the Community of Branded Goods' Manufacturers (RusBrand). The
researchers interviewed representatives of companies belonging to the
community, law enforcement, government agencies and lawyers involved in
intellectual property protection.
Earlier, the Interior Ministry said that the proportion of contraband
and counterfeit industry in the market of consumer goods exceeded 50
percent, which defrauds the state of 300 billion rubles in missed taxes
and import duties.
Over the past three years the amount of sold forgeries in Russia has
not decreased, to say the least, while the share of counterfeit goods in
general has remained unchanged, the authors of the survey speculate.
According to first deputy rector of the State University-Higher School
of Economics, Vadim Radayev (a co-author of the study), no reduction in
the number of forgeries of popular brands is observed, and the positive
trends that developed at a certain point have been reduced to nothing by
the financial crisis of 2008-2009. As before, there are nine most
frequently counterfeited categories of goods. They account for 24 percent
of retail turnover. They are alcohol, drugs, clothes, shoes, hygiene
products, cosmetics, tea, coffee, detergents and cleaners. In addition, of
late the counterfeiters have ventured into the agrochemicals market, which
poses a risk to consumers of domestically grown agricultural products.
Premium products are imitated more often - in this case the fake
carries some traits of the genuine corporate brand, and mass products are
usually falsified without much a do.
The flows of counterfeit goods are moving to the local level. Whereas
before forgeries were predominantly foreign (China, Taiwan, the Baltic
States, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan continue to be their
sources), now the proportion of counterfeit goods produced domestically is
growing.
Experts argue that local underground workshops, as a rule, do simple
packaging, bottling or assembling. Individual self-employed businessmen
are good for this job. On the rise are producers who are subject to
protection racketeering by the local authorities and law enforcers. For
example, the study said, involved in the production of fakes are often
such closed institutions as prisons and military units. Another source of
domestic counterfeit goods is the so-called "third work shift." A legally
operating enterprise manufactures unregistered and untaxed products at
night and then markets them through shadow dealers, bypassing the official
channels of distribution.
But the import of counterfeit products seems to have run against a
more reliable barrier, thanks to the efficient operation of the Federal
Customs Service (FCS).
Great risks of counterfeit goods expansion, according to study
authors, are inherent in the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and
Kazakhstan. The number of trademarks in the national customs registers of
Belarus and Kazakhstan is far smaller than that in Russia, the protection
mechanisms are less sophisticated, and monitoring and the law enforcement
agencies are far less active in this field.
Some problems stem from the numerous legislative inconsistencies and
different pricing policies, pursued by the owners of famous brands and
trademarks in different regions of the world. For example, the prices of
international brands in Kazakhstan today are 10-20 percent lower than
those in Russia. For Russia, first and foremost for its budget, this means
a possible increase in the so-called "parallel import", which will not be
legally restricted.
With the abolition of internal borders buying many branded goods,
especially perfumery and cosmetics intended only for Asian markets, say in
Kazakhstan, and then bringing them to Russia will be the simplest way of
"parallel import". The Customs Union could trigger an influx of Chinese
counterfeit goods into Russia, experts warn.
Control of the outer border of Kazakhstan is lax, local customs
officials are in the habit of clearing most of the goods for transit, and
they are hardly able to conduct the required inspections properly, the
daily Vedomosti quotes an officer of the Federal Customs Service as saying.
Market participants feel additional concerns about the weakening of
internal control over counterfeiting by law enforcement agencies. That is
largely due to legislative amendments to restrict the inspections of small
and medium-sized businesses, as well as due to the reduction of criminal
responsibility for economic crimes.
In general, the reasons for complacency are few. Counterfeiting cannot
be eliminated entirely, says Radayev, one can simply reduce its market
share. But, as soon as you give up the fight, it begins to grow at once.
According to the authors of the survey, every effort must be exerted to
increase the activity of brand holders, and to encourage them to work with
relevant business associations and to maintain attempts to strengthen the
protection of intellectual property.
-0-str
