According to World Maritime News and the International Chamber of Commerce, the maritime community has developed a set of initiatives and best practices to reduce the volume of transport of counterfeits or piracy sent around the world through controls on their customers and the supply chain overall.
The best practices were developed as part of the ongoing collaboration of the signatories of the ‘Declaration of Intent to stop the Maritime transport of counterfeits’ (DOI), which is a joint effort between members of the maritime shipping industry and the main brands to work together to prevent the transport of counterfeit goods on transport vessels.
The new recommended best practice document is based on a previous document on “Know Your Client” (KYC), which was launched in March at the TPM maritime logistics conference in Long Beach, California.
This new document is expanded to cover due diligence recommendations for existing customers, as well as other voluntary measures for maritime service providors and operators to improve the integrity of their relationships throughout the maritime supply chain.
The document was launched at the conference on the observance of the international law on intellectual property in Dubai on September 26.
The DOI is a voluntary and non-binding declaration developed and signed for the first time in November 2016. It recognizes the “destructive impact” of counterfeiting on international trade.
A report from Frontier Economics, commissioned by BASCAP and the International Trademark Association, predicts the total annual cost of counterfeiting and digital piracy between USD 923 billion and USD 1.13 billion and predicts that this could double by 2022 if the trends current continue.
The Principles of the Declaration include:
- A policy of zero tolerance towards counterfeiting,
- A commitment to strict controls of the supply chain, risk profiles and due diligence controls to ensure that maritime operators do not inadvertently cooperate with those involved in the process. falsification.
During the event, the Turkish maritime company ARKAS, which has a fleet of more than 53 ships, joined as a signatory to the DoI. Other signatories of the declaration already include shipping lines such as Maersk, MSC & CMA CGM.
This initiative is a task we all must have in mind, at the end helping to reduce counterfeit products transportation is assuring the sustainability of each nation economy.