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Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator<br />

diabetes; hypertension; cholesterol; cardiovascular<br />

disease; obesity; infectious diseases; Alzheimer's<br />

disease; prostate disease; erectile dysfunction; asthma<br />

and fungal infections; antibiotics; anti-psychotic<br />

products; steroids; anti-inflammatory tablets; pain<br />

medicines; cough medicines; hormones and vitamins;<br />

and treatments for hair and weight loss. 96<br />

In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO)<br />

launched a global surveillance and monitoring system<br />

to encourage countries to report “substandard,<br />

spurious, falsely labelled, falsified and counterfeit”<br />

(SSFFC) medical products in order to help develop a<br />

more accurate and validated assessment of the scope,<br />

scale, and harm caused by this issue. 97 Over 920<br />

different medical products have been reported so far,<br />

representing every region of the world, affecting medical<br />

products from all main therapeutic categories, and<br />

representing both innovator and generic medicines. 98<br />

Using intelligence from enforcement operations,<br />

INTERPOL coordinated a worldwide operation during<br />

a single week in 2015 resulting in a record 20.7 million<br />

fake and illicit medicines seized—including blood<br />

pressure medication, erectile dysfunction pills, cancer<br />

medication and nutritional supplements—and more<br />

than 2,410 rogue websites taken offline. 99 Ninety-seven<br />

percent of all counterfeit pharmaceuticals seized at<br />

the U.S. border in FY 2015 were shipped from four<br />

economies: China, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore. 100<br />

Counterfeit drugs are manufactured to closely<br />

resemble the real thing, often making it virtually<br />

impossible for consumers to detect whether the<br />

medicinal products they are ingesting are genuine or<br />

counterfeit (FIG. 26). This can be especially dangerous<br />

if the counterfeit product appears as commonly<br />

prescribed opioid pain medication, such as oxycodone<br />

or hydrocone, yet the counterfeit actually contains<br />

illicitly produced fentanyl, a significantly more powerful<br />

synthetic opioid, because fentanyl can plunge users into<br />

overdose quickly.<br />

With a growing number of individuals shopping<br />

online for affordable medicine, consumers are now<br />

confronted with an alarming number of rogue internet<br />

pharmacy sites. 101 Criminal networks have become<br />

increasingly sophisticated, stocking rogue pharmacies<br />

with counterfeit medicines made all over the world and<br />

posing as legitimate pharmacies. 102 Yet, a review by the<br />

National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has<br />

shown that as few as three percent (3%) of websites<br />

selling prescription drugs are legitimate pharmacies. 103<br />

Counterfeit Automotive Parts.<br />

The circulation of counterfeit automotive parts in the<br />

United States and around the world gives rise to serious<br />

public safety concerns. 104 These illegal products are not<br />

made to the specifications of the original manufacturer,<br />

are not subject to quality control tests, and fail to<br />

perform as intended, resulting in catastrophic failures<br />

with potentially fatal consequences.<br />

Some of the most dangerous counterfeit products<br />

involve air bags that, during testing from U.S.<br />

Department of Transportation’s National Highway<br />

Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), demonstrated<br />

consistent malfunctioning of the air bag (FIG.27)<br />

ranging from non-deployment, to under-deployment,<br />

to over-deployment accompanied by an explosion of<br />

metal shrapnel. 105<br />

FIG. 27: NHTSA Test of Counterfeit Air Bag.<br />

Source: NHTSA<br />

A wide variety of auto parts have been seized by<br />

law enforcement over the years. 106 While counterfeit<br />

auto parts may have been historically limited to<br />

“cosmetic” items like hood ornaments and decals,<br />

customs seizure statistics reveal that counterfeit safety<br />

components like brake pads, air bags, wheels, and<br />

suspension parts are becoming increasingly common.<br />

Additional counterfeit parts reported to have been<br />

seized by law enforcement include: seat belts, oil<br />

and air filters, brake rotors, control arms, windshields,<br />

bearings, steering linkages, ignition coils, microchips,<br />

spark plugs, solenoids, clutch housing, crankshafts,<br />

diagnostic equipment, suspension parts and oil<br />

pumps. 107 Put simply, almost every type of auto part<br />

can be and has been counterfeited (FIG 28).<br />

SECTION 1<br />

37

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