From 20 to 31 May 2024, the World Customs Organization (WCO), in cooperation with the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) for the Asia-Pacific (A/P) region and under the sponsorship of the Japan Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF Japan), successfully conducted an operation codenamed "Operation Action IPR A/P III".
Operation Action IPR A/P III, aimed at intercepting illegal and counterfeit products that could affect the health and safety of citizens in the WCO A/P region, saw the participation of a total of 26 Customs administrations from the following countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Korea (Republic of), the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar (Republic of the Union of), Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
The reporting was conducted via the IPR CENcomm platform, a WCO secure communication tool, which also greatly facilitated information exchange among Members throughout the process.
At the report launch event held on 3 October 2024, the WCO representative and Ms. Sahoko Shiga, Counsellor for the International Cooperation Division of the Customs and Tariff Bureau of Japan's Ministry of Finance, emphasized the significance of Customs' role in protecting the health and safety of citizens, and praised the outcomes of the operation.
The Member administrations' unwavering commitment led to 399 seizures, comprising some 600,000 pieces and more than 42,000kg of counterfeit products.
Among the different categories of illicit goods that were seized, toiletries/cosmetics accounted for nearly 40% of total seizures. The regular mail service was the most used conveyance method, accounting for nearly 60% of all cases, followed by air transport (23.8%). This may reflect the ongoing challenge Customs administrations face of goods being traded via e-commerce and shipped in small packages.
The success of the operation must also be attributed to the close collaboration and exchange of information between Customs administrations and rights holders. This was ensured through the pre-operational regional workshop held in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 14 to 17 May 2024, during which 17 rights holders shared with participants the issues and challenges they face regarding the protection of their trademark, and the techniques they can use to detect instances of counterfeiting affecting their rights.
The WCO will maintain its commitment to the fight against counterfeit goods in the WCO Asia-Pacific region and beyond. This will be achieved through the implementation of the WCO's IPR Strategy 2020, which encompasses the following five topics: awareness-raising and visibility, stakeholder cooperation and networking, risk management and information exchange, capacity building and cross-cutting issues.
For more information about IPR protection-related activities, please contact us at: IPRteam@wcoomd.org