Government seizes counterfeit goods

MANILA, Philippines -  Counterfeit goods seized by the government dropped 45 percent to P2.425 billion during the first seven months of the year from P4.398 billion a year ago due to the loss of morale of enforcement groups, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said.

The value of counterfeit items seized by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was also down 78 percent to P462.009 million from the same period last year.

The value of goods seized by the Optical Media Board was also down by four percent to P767.648 million from a year ago, while seizures made by the Bureau of Customs fell 27 percent to P1.1 billion from the comparable period in the previous year.

Fake goods seized by the Philippine National Police on the other hand, surged by 503 percent to P95.359 million from the previous year.

IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor attributed the drop to the massive loss of morale of IP enforcers as the country was retained in the US IP Rights watch list.

The Office of the US Trade Representative annual Special 301 report which provided a review on the adequacy and effectiveness of the US trading partners in the area of protection and enforcement of IP Rights was released in April.

In the Special 301 report, the Philippines was among the 27 countries placed on the watch list.

Being on the watch list means there is a need to address underlying IP Rights problems.

“The retention of the Philippines in the USTR Watchlist demoralized some of the enforcement groups,” Blancaflor said.

However, he added that this is a temporary setback.

In 2011, the government seized a total of P8.3 billion worth of counterfeit items.