By Kris Crismundo/PNA
MANILA — The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) reported on Thursday that the government managed to seized a total of PHP23.6 billion worth of counterfeit goods in 2018.
The value of confiscated goods last year was a record high, according to the agency. This represented a 188 percent surge from only PHP8.2 billion worth of goods confiscated in 2017.
In terms of enforcement, 2018 has proven to be a banner year with the NCIPR (National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights), spearheaded by IPOPHL and DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), capturing record levels of counterfeit goods,” said IPOPHL Director General Josephine Santiago.
About 86 percent of the total seized goods in the previous year were cigarettes and alcohol amounting to over PHP20.25 billion.
“Consistent with the trend we’ve seen all year, fake cigarettes and alcohol led this record haul — the formula for which we believe is the firm determination and vigilance of brand owners to pursue these counterfeiters,” she added.
Second highest value of confiscated fake goods were pharmaceutical and personal care products amounting to PHP1.2 billion, followed by fake handbags at PHP821 million, and optical media at PHP790 million.
NCIPR is the enforcement body that pursues seizure of counterfeit goods in the market.
It is a composite unit made up of personnel from the Department of Trade and Industry, IPOPHL, Bureau of Customs, National Bureau of Investigation, Optical Media Board, Philippine National Police, Department of Justice, Food and Drug Administration, National Book Development Board, Office of the Special Envoy for Transnational Crime, National Telecommunication Commission, and Department of the Interior and Local Government.
