Mr. Li Kenong, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China said on November 25th that customs administrations throughout the country would carry out special actions to fight against IPR infringements, counterfeiting and inferior goods.
Vice Minister Li said, Customs officers should notify the police once they found out that the infringing activities may constitute a crime. In this way, Li said, the deterrence produced by criminal sanctions would be enhanced and thus the effectiveness of fighting infringement could be improved.
Li emphasized that IPR enforcement is now another priority of China Customs in the novel situation. China Customs, following the plan of the State Council, has outlined a specialized action plan for IPR customs enforcement. To make the actions more effective, China Customs put forward 12 concrete directions for the subordinate Customs administrations which include enhancing control and inspection over the inward and outward goods, timely rectifying the management category of the enterprises who had engaged in the infringing goods import and export business, and setting up tip-off hotlines.
There is a rise in the seizure of the inward and outward infringing goods year after year since China Customs started IPR enforcement in September, 1994, with the total amount of goods seized hitting record high in 2009. In that year, 66,000 consignments of infringing commodities were seized by Customs administrations throughout the country. The achievements gained by China Customs were applauded both nationally and internationally. Domestically, China Customs had been selected the “most efficient enforcement agency” five years in a row by The Quality Brands Protection Committee of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (QBPC); internationally, it was awarded by the World Customs Organization(WCO) and the Global Anti-counterfeiting Group for its impressive performance. |
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