Impact on industries
Read what the press has to say
The widespread sale of counterfeit products across various sectors such as electronic items, automotive components, consumer durables, pharma, herbal medicine & cosmetic has become so alarming as to capture a market size of Rs 55,000 crore through illegal channels by 2013, estimates made by the industry body -Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) said. Poor or zero regulatory mechanism to check the sale of these products could potentially deny the exchequer Rs 5,000 crore revenue losses for 2011-12.
“Delhi is the hub of counterfeit products in India as nearly 75% counterfeit products originate here. FMCG companies having maximum loss up to 45% and an average loss around 25% of their market share of their well known products”, added D S Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM. The most popular counterfeit market is clothing, followed by shoes, watches, leather goods, and jewelry.
The sale of contraband electronic items, consumer durables, automotive components, pharma, herbal medicine & cosmetic products, based of ASSOCHAM estimates for fiscal 2011-12 is Rs 25,000 crore. The current market size of fake products sale is around 45,000 crore.
The other areas in which spurious products sale is going unabated comprise vegetable oils, spices, ghee and even watch components. In these areas of large economic activities, the fake products sale has been estimated within the range of Rs 15,000 crore by 2013.
Fake medicines were sold off in rural and semi urban market the cost of which works out to be Rs 12, 000 crore. Herbal medicine and cosmetics alone registered a sale of another Rs 10,000 crores in 2011-12. The laws at present hardly provide for effective deterrence for the offenders either by way of monitory penalties, damages or criminal prosecution.
Fake products sale is likely to touch over Rs 55,000 cr by 2013
Chandramouli, | Aug 6, 2012, 04.31PM IST
See the adverse impact reported in some selected industries:
Pharma
* Counterfeit drugs large economic and social burden.
* According to the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, about 30% of brand-name drug sales in developing countries are counterfeit.
Cosmetics
The sales of counterfeit products in Indonesia causes tax losses of up to $4.8 Billion (43.2 Trillion Indonesian Rupiahs) in 2010.
Spirits
A laboratory study at St. Andrews University found that counterfeit Scotch whiskies had less than 40 percent alcohol characteristics of authentic single malt whiskies.
Apparel
In 2011, over 60,000 counterfeit clothing and apparel items featuring college thletic teams were seized by the Collegiate Licensing Company. The value of the counterfeit goods was worth over $1 Million.
