A Crusade against Fakes in Ghana - ACP Business Climate

-Zine
Towards a private sector
enabling environment
A Facility financed by the
European Development Fund
Table of Contents
1 DOSSIER
n A Crusade against Fakes in Ghana
2 BRÈVES
n A Regional Workshop for the CEMAC region
on Counterfeiting
2 REQUÊTES
n New requests under examination
Information Bulletin of the ACP Business Climate Facility May 2008 / N 16
A Crusade against Fakes in Ghana
BizClim supports the Ghanaian Anti-counterfeiting Coalition.
The ACP Business Climate Facility
(BizClim) provides technical
assistance that is essentially about
improving regulations, legislation,
the institutional set up and
financial measures (the rules of
the game) relating to the enabling
environment of the private sector
in ACP countries or regions and to
the reform of SOEs - and to do so
by focusing on possible support
to ACP governments or regional
institutions.
Responsible Editor
M’Hamed Cherif
Av. Roger Vandendriessche 38
1150 Brussels - Belgium
Tel: +32 2 772 01 19
Fax: +32 2 777 08 60
info@acpbusinessclimate.org
http://www.acpbusinessclimate.org
T
he Ghanaian Anti-counterfeiting
Coalition is kick-starting a oneyear
old organization’s crusade
against counterfeit and pirated products
in this West African country’s marketplace.
The Coalition will enter into a sustained
process of eradicating products that infringe
against legitimate intellectual property
rights, including patents, industrial designs,
trademarks, and copyrights.
First, the Anti-counterfeiting Coalition
will develop recommendations on the
structure, functions and operations of a more
formalized IP Crime Taskforce, comprising
primarily government enforcement agencies
and industry representatives. Second, are
recommendations on strengthening the legal
and regulatory infrastructure supporting
IP rights, and combating the production,
distribution and sale of fakes.
In addition to the two above-mentioned
pillars, the Coalition’s initiative supports the
initiation of a public awareness campaign in
Ghana, to raise the consciousness levels of
government agencies, industry players, and
consumers, as to the dangerous effects of the
trade in fakes, both for consumers themselves
and for the economy.
Counterfeiting even kill people...
The iniative is trying to reverse the general
public perception that “knock-offs” are a
harmless enterprise affecting no real victim.
Putting aside devaluation of trademark and
brand value, and the real damages caused
to artists, composers and authors, fake
consumer goods have killed large numbers
of Africans, including a recent case of 160
victims of a fake oral hygiene product.
Enforcement against fakes is not as easy
as one might imagine upon first glance.
The trade in counterfeit and pirated
products is closely tied up in the trade
of other illicit and smuggled goods, and
often has organized crime links. It would
not be uncommon to find loads of cargo
containing several types of fake products,
combined with smuggled authentic goods

❯ ❮
In Brief
❯
(seeking to avoid import duties) and
perhaps even illicit (legally prohibited)
materials.
Combat counterfeiting is not
an easy task
Compounding the difficulty, or perhaps
one of the major causes of the problem, are
Ghana’s long borders with neighbouring
countries. Ghana has hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of miles of land borders with
Togo to the east, Burkina Faso to the north,
and Ivory Coast to the West. These are
borders without border in effect, as one
can quite easily find a farm that lies on both
sides of the “official” Ghana/Togo border
line for example. Thousands of small
foot-paths between the two countries are
impossible to patrol and are used regularly
by legitimate persons and more nefarious
traders. .
It seems illogical to assume that the trade in
fakes could be carried out one motorcycle
shipment at a time, until considering the
fact that the mark-up on fake products
can be up to the hundreds of percent,
sometime even out-pacing the profitability
level of narcotics; thus the interest level of
less than legitimate businesspersons.
Identifying best practice and
measuring impact in Ghana
BizClim is assisting the Ghanaian Anticounterfeiting
Coalition to begin the
process of accurately capturing the
economic causes, effects and impacts
of counterfeit and pirated products by
conducting a survey of consumers and
industry and synthesizing findings in the
form of a preliminary socio-economic
impact assessment. Assessment findings
can assist all stakeholders, including
agency officials, in their resource-allocation
decision-making vis-a-vis the proposals for
strengthening the institutional and legal/
regulatory infrastructures for combating
the trade in fakes.
April marks the mid-point of BizClim’s first
intervention with the Ghanaian Anticounterfeiting
Coalition. More news will
come on findings and conclusions of our
initial set of activities in July, as well as an
update on possible future activities with
this forward looking dynamic partner in
strengthening the business climate in West
Africa. n
A Regional Workshop
for the CEMAC region
on Counterfeiting
Back on the 10th of December of last
year, the African Industrial Association
(AIA) organized a regional workshop
for the CEMAC region aimed at
enhancing awareness about problems
stemming from counterfeiting
and identifying the weaknesses in
combating counterfeiting, e.g. legal,
regulatory and institutional.
The regional workshop was based
on a study commissioned by AIA
and undertaking by an independent
consultant. The workshop participants
made concrete recommendations
and draw a road map on how to
fight counterfeiting. The study has
been finalized and is now available.
In addition, BizClim is committed
to disseminate the road-map and
build support for its implementation.
Accordingly, BizClim will soon
announce concrete follow-up actions
aimed at promoting initiatives at the
national and regional level that can
facilitate implementation of the roadmap.
NEW REQUESTS UNDER EXAMINATION
Country/Region Beneficiaries Title
Mozambique
Ministry of Industry
Evaluation of export potential for some
agricultural products of Mozambique
Mozambique
Ministry of Industry
of Trade
A feasibility study for the creation of a
Single Mozambique Inspection Agency
Africa Africa Investor Ai Investment Climate Summit 2008
Jamaica
Jamaica Trade & Invest
(JTI)
Participation in EXPO Zaragoza 2008
BizClim invites you to
become an associate
expert in an ACP
country or region
Africa
Association pour la
Promotion de l’Arbitrage
en Afrique (APAA)
Establishment of an African network of
alternative settlement of commercial
and investment related disputes.
e-Zine N16 n May 2008