Posted by By DENNIS MERNYI, Abuja on
Governments all over the world, including Nigeria, lost on average of over $2.5 trillion annually through the international trading in counterfeit goods and products, especially consumables.
Governments all over the world, including Nigeria, lost on average of over $2.5 trillion annually through the international trading in counterfeit goods and products, especially consumables.
Apart from that, another $630 billion is also being lost yearly as total revenue of the countries of the world, where those products are being smuggled into countries through illegal access.
This was the revelation by Lynda Baroness Chalker, Chairman of African Matters Limited, a pan African group of advisers seeking to take investment into Africa when she visited the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) Director General, Mrs. Ify Umenyi, in her office in Abuja .
Chalker also disclosed that China alone accounts for over 80 percent of the fake and counterfeit products being exported into the global market, while India exports 10 percent of such products, especially pharmaceuticals.
She said: 'Worldwide, trading in counterfeit goods and products has cost, especially finance and health ministries, over $2.5 trillion, while the sum of over $630 million is being lost annually as revenue, as a result of the fraudulent trade practices.
'Also, it will please you to note that China alone account for over 80 percent of the counterfeit products exported into the global market with India accounting for 10 percent."
'This is very disastrous as far as global international trade is concern as well as the hazards this practice portends on the human race worldwide."
According to her, Africa, where most boarders are porous, is mostly affected as such goods are not checked by customs officers authorities.
There is every need for formidable agencies in place among the countries to enable effective raid on the illegal trade as well as stringent penalties," she said.
Chalker said that countries all over the world have established internal organizations, like intellectual property rights, to check the activities of some of the manufacturers in these countries since, according her, they are not different from drug barons or money launderers.
In her remarks, the CPC DG, Mrs. Umenyi, stated that the penetration of substandard products into countries was not just a monumental fraud on the growing economy but also a global phenomenon that needs massive fight to stop.
She said the council needs to build synergy with development partners to acquaint investors with the regulations of businesses in Nigeria, including regulating all the imported goods and products into the country.