Source: www.niti.gov.in
Anti-Counterfeiting
Menace and India
It
is evident that counterfeiting of products continues to be a bane to the Indian
economy as well as the world-wide image of the country. Globalization has
brought the positives of increased commerce and opened India up for direct
foreign investment, which is excellent for the country’s economy. However,
India’s status as a low-cost manufacturing base also opens it up for use by
counterfeiters as a prime location for the production of counterfeit goods both
for domestic sale and export.
As
per the global counterfeit goods ranking, counterfeited drugs are at the top of
the list with a market value of $200 billion. World over India is a leading
manufacturer and exporter of high-quality generic and patent drugs. However,
the TAXUD statistics released by the European Commission a few years back
showed us the dark side by stating that 75 percent of fake drugs supplied world
over had some origins in India. The figures are bound to have increased
considerably.
The
owners being more aware of their rights have now become more prudent and are
swift in taking action. Various government agencies in cases of counterfeiting
have taken action both on their own accord as well as upon receipt of a
complaint, either from the private sector, the right owners or the consumers themselves.
The health ministry in India has also undertaken various steps to clamp down on
the illegal trade such as launching a reward program, offering $55,000 to those
who provide information about fake-drug syndicates amongst others. Important
changes have also been proposed to the country’s IP laws such as the procedure
stipulated by the Drug Controller General of India in January 2011, which
required an amendment to Rule 96 (manner of labeling requirement) of Drugs and
Cosmetics Act. The proposed amendment made it mandatory for every drug
manufactured in India to bear on its primary label Unique Identifier Code and
2D bar code by which anyone can verify the drug through an SMS.
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