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*The European Commission is opening up negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) between the EU and key economic partners. This is good news for the food and drinks industry, but bad news for counterfeiters who has so far managed to get away with operating their illegal business relatively carefree. *

Counterfeiting and tampering is a major issue for the food industry, as it can undermine consumer trust, lead to market share loss and cost a company a fortune in marketing; more importantly, though, it can put consumers' lives and health at risk. One only has to mention the 2004 infant formula tragedy in China to understand the serious consequences of the global counterfeit food threat can have.

This is why the International Trademark Association (INTA) and The International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) have welcomed news by the Council of Ministers of the mandate authorizing the European Commission to open negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) between the EU and key economic partners, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and New Zealand.

In October 2007, the United States, European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and New Zealand announced that they had reached a tentative agreement on a framework for a new multi-lateral agreement intended to establish a stronger set of common standards for intellectual property enforcement among their countries.

Following several months of internal discussions among European Union Member States, it was announced on April 14 that an agreement has finally been reached which will allow negotiations to start in earnest. The agreement will help government and authorities to tackle this important economical problem, that has for so long been considered as a 'soft crime' and difficult to penalise.

INTA and ICC's BASCAP had recently called for the negotiations on the new anti-counterfeiting agreement to begin as soon as possible and thus warmly welcome this announcement.

"We are very pleased to see the speed with which ACTA is moving forward and is being embraced by those seated at the European Union's negotiating table. The actions outlined in this agreement have the potential to significantly raise the profile and the protection of trademarks and we are optimistic to see it become a reality," said INTA Executive Director Alan C Drewsen.

ICC Secretary General Guy Sebban welcomed the progress announced by the negotiating parties but added some words of caution: "In order to be relevant, ACTA must deliver significant improvements over existing multilateral guidelines by establishing stronger international standards for government performance on intellectual property enforcement."

A trans-national crime that has been described as "more profitable than heroin...easier than photo-copying...and with penalties like jay-walking", counterfeiting is widespread with a CIPR survey (2002) of Moscow's counterfeit market revealing 48% of the 3000 inspected retail premises to carry fake goods. According to a report by Gieschen Consultancy, $8.5 million (€5.3 million) worth of counterfeited food and alcohol products were seized worldwide during the first half of 2005.

However, due to logistical issues, many products remain local rather than exported which means that the number of items seized by customs may not reflect the true size of the problem. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey lists Turkey as the main source of fake food and beverages (accounting for 18%), followed by China (16%), Singapore (12%), Hungary (7%) and Tunisia (6%). The report found kiwis, conserved vegetables, milk powder, butter, ghee, baby food, instant coffee, alcohol, drinks, confectionary and hi-breed corn seeds topped the list of counterfeited articles.

Once fully ratified, ACTA would provide for stronger international coordination, agreement on the best enforcement practices and alignment on provisions of legal frameworks to ensure that adequate criminal, civil and border protection measures are in place.