About Anti-counterfeiting

1. Present situation of consumer rights protection and anti-counterfeiting

The overall level of product quality has been improved considerably since the beginning of 1980s. However, its present situation is not yet optimistic. Data of selective examination carried out by state supervision show that there are always 20-30% of examined samples low to standard. The complaints related to quality has kept growing for many years, with the complaints related to product quality, engineering quality, service quality and fake, counterfeit, false, inferior products holding 80% of all complaints. Presently, fake, counterfeit, false, inferior products are rampant, and frauds are occurring continuously. The economic and social order is therefore seriously shocked. Although there exists various kinds of frauds about fake, counterfeit, false, inferior products, they can be classified into six following types:

(1) Infringement is involved in by using falsely other's factory name and factory address. Certain people counterfeit whatever is famous in the market.

(2) Pretend products low to standard to be up to standard.

(3) Use falsely or forge quality symbol, or use falsely the certificates of production license that must be used with permission of State authorities or institutions of examination and approval, or forte, fabricate some quality symbol that doesn't exist in practice.

(4) Pretend the false to be the true, put one product in the position of another product of different attributes.

(5) Pretend the inferior to be the good, products of low standards, low grade and low class are pretended to be products of high standards, high grade and high class.

(6) Mix the different and the false materials; impure materials or products with quite different quality characteristic and price are mixed into the products.

It is not hard to see, from six above-mentioned means, that rights violence is getting more popular with means more modernized. More convenient communications and more advanced high-tech are used to mix the spurious with the genuine, which has the prevention difficult. Counterfeiting ally and collusion appear as people in a whole area, a whole village even a whole county are involved in counterfeiting and bribe sinister gangs and officials for protection. The local protectionism comes into being as a result. Not only anti-counterfeiting is getting more difficult, but also the physical health and body safety is threatened, and even the stableness of society is affected. The counterfeiters are destroying and wasting resources, endangering the fair competition and disturbing the market economy order. Moreover, they damage the credit of society and lead to credit crisis and ruined moral, which make it hard to form a kind of production relation generating initiatives for development of productivity. Apparently, anti-counterfeiting has a far-reaching meaning and a large market potential. Good social efficiency would be created if the promotion committee can take non-governmental institutions as contact points of investigation services relating to consumer rights protection (shortened as service points).

2. Several effective approaches of anti-counterfeiting

(1) Consumer rights protection and anti-counterfeiting of State functional departments

The functional departments of all levels playing main role in market economy regulation constitute the main force of consumer rights protection and anti-counterfeiting with the State Bureau of Quality and Technological Supervision, the State Bureau of Industry & Commerce and the Police being a mainstay. This is the most effective and most direct regulation approach. After all, it is not enough to rely totally on state functional departments to attack the fake. Despite of the advantage of having power given by the State, they have their own shortcomings: insufficient in human and material resources, not strong enough, and often having too many things to take care.

(2) Spontaneous anti-counterfeiting of non-governmental institutions

With the realization of the first-step strategic objectives and the smooth progress of the second-step strategic objectives of China, a great number of services institutions, such as Beijing Steele Business Investigation Center, Zhonglian Industrial Property Investigation Center and Wanghai Anti-Counterfeiting Company, emerge as the times require with an effort to escort enterprises, safeguard business security and prevent commercial frauds with their services of commercial credit investigation and company asset situation investigation. Hundreds of such institutions working with their rich experiences, advanced instruments, high-performing personnel and good credit, have become powerful assistants of State anti-counterfeiting departments and constitute an anti-counterfeiting troop not to be ignored Their advantages lie in rich human and material resources, while disadvantage results from the fact that they are unable to give full play to their anti-counterfeiting skills because of lack of authority to undertake such function. Being trained and transformed, these non-governmental institutions can constitute a network of size, and launch conventional battles as well as collective war against big and serious cases with the cooperation and sound decision.

(3) Anti-counterfeiting by the combined strength of State departments and non-governmental institutions

Under the principles of guidance, supervision, coordination and mutual advantage supplementation, it is a preferred approach that states functional departments and non-governmental institutions anti-counterfeit together. Firstly, the power given by the State can be given full play to overtake the shortage of authority of non-governmental institutions in stepping on economic regulation. Secondly, the advantage of rich human and material resources of non-governmental organizations can be made full use of to make up the defect of state departments.

3. Several solutions to existing problems

(1) Investigate whatever counterfeit appear

a. to organize powerful activities with an effort to publicize quality so that everyone learning about counterfeit inform the administration.

b. After receiving the information from individual or organization, to undertake careful examination according to established procedure, place on file those cases conforming to rules timely and recommend to service points to investigate the counterfeit producer.

c. After receiving the commission, field investigation will be carried out according to "procedure of case tracing" (see enclosed) and a report will be submitted.

(2) Punish whatever counterfeits disclosed

To counterfeiting institutions and their persons in charge, administrative punishment should be imposed according to related rules, criminal responsibility should also be found out, and civil compensation should be given to victims.

(3) Expose whatever counterfeit in public

To counterfeiting cases, which with big damage to society and serious plot, the media should expose them with coordination with functional departments in order to warn other people.

(4) Establish fund of consumer rights protection and counterfeiting as material guarantee

4. Relation between China Quality Ten-Thousand-Miles March Promotion Committee (shortened as "promotion committee") and service points

As representative of state functional departments, the promotion committee organizes, coordinates, implements and supervises the nationwide consumer rights protection and anti-counterfeiting. Service points, as contact points of promotion committee in their task of anti-counterfeiting, should accept the cases recommended by the promotion committee and their guiding of policies and supervision.

(1) Guidance and supervision of promotion committee to service points

a. promotion committee conduct politics guidance, objectives management, regular supervision, mistake correction to service points.

b. Promotion committee can assist service points to undertake investigation with their coordination with related functional departments.

c. Promotion committee can create a good cultural environment for counterfeiting with their coordination with the media if needed.

d. Promotion committee can sign contracts about cases introduction and make clear the responsibility and the rights of two sides.

e. Promotion committee is authorized to introduce cases to local service points and the latter must not refuse without reason.

f. Promotion committee should abide by carefully the "system of case tracing" (details seen in enclosed documents), examine and guide the work of service points regularly.

(2) The joining of service points into troop of government anti-counterfeiting will create greater social interests

As non-governmental counterfeiting organizations, service points make little social contribution because their action is not justifiable and their strength is limited. Joining the ranks of government anti-counterfeiting, just like a crook entering the sea, service points constitute an irresistible just social power and will threat counterfeiter highly and create greater social benefits.

a. Service points accept the cases introduced and given by promotion committee, and undertake consumer rights protection and anti-counterfeiting actively.

b. Under the guidance of promotion committee, service points build links with consumer association, enterprises and complaints listening institutions; build professional and large-size database of consumer rights protection and anti-counterfeiting information; and make it available to the government, companies and consumers so as to create value to State, benefit enterprises and individuals, and avoid loss for them.

c. Choose typical cases and provide documents and data to promotion committee, help it undertake quality complaints, issue, analysis regularly.

d. Carry out consulting services of "Law of Product Quality" to increase the consciousness and quality of rights protection and anti-counterfeiting of consumers.

e. Service points must not undertake non-related business in the name of service points of rights protection.

(3) Service points can only keep healthy development under the politics guidance of promotion committee

a. Accept carefully the politics guidance of promotion committee, observe the law, and accept the objective management.

b. Strengthen personnel education, carry out post training carefully, increase the level of performance and demand efficiency from advanced management.

c. Increase regularly level of office automation, to be safe, efficient, low consuming, and high quality.

d. Improve and perfect continuously all rules to make service points perform according to rules and standards with a system flexible and dynamic in order to exploit larger development expansion.

In all, anti-counterfeiting is not just the affairs of State or government, also affairs of all people. This work has been attached great importance by party and state leaders in approaching a critical step. We hope that work of state functional departments, with the power of the whole society, will form an effective social system after a period of effort, and hinder, crash or eradicate the illegal counterfeiting activities. A consumer goods market with credit will be brought back to consumers, so that benefit the people and the society.

The opinions above-mentioned are just personal ideas for your reference.