The National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR), along with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, has seized P 23.6 billion worth of pirated and counterfeit goods in 2018, an increase of 188% over 2017, and netting NCIPR?s largest haul since its creation in 2008.
“In terms of enforcement, 2018 has proven to be a banner year with the NCIPR, spearheaded by IPOPHL and the DTI, capturing record levels of counterfeit goods. Consistent with the trend we’ve seen all year, fake cigarettes and alcohol led this record haul — the formula for which we believe is the firm determination and vigilance of brand owners to pursue these counterfeiters,” said IPOPHL director-general Josephine R. Santiago.
Per type of good, cigarettes (P 20,250,604,055) and alcohol (P 3,000,000) took the lion’s share or 86 % of the total. Seized pharmaceutical and personal care products came in second in terms of value, with the year-long haul amounting to P 1.2 billion. The NCIPR seized P 821 million worth of fake handbags and wallets, while optical media came in fourth at P 790 million.
In 2017, the NCIPR captured a total of P8.2 billion worth of goods, with the bulk of the items comprising of consumer electronics.
In capturing the 2018 haul, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filed a total of 143 cases, while PNP and FDA carried out 82 arrests in relation to these counterfeit goods.
Per enforcement agency, the Bureau of Customs hauled in P 11 billion; the NBI captured P 5.3 billion; the PNP, P 1.4 billion; OMB’s seizure amounted to P 790 million, and the FDA?s captured goods amounted to P 5.8 million.
Joint operations of PNP-Criminal Investigation Detection Group, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency brought in P 5 billion.
The value of fake goods confiscated by the government fluctuates every year and it depends on the class of goods and the market value of the original goods in the formal economy.
