Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Julie Myers, met with members of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition in New York City last week. Ms. Myers and Robert Barchiesi, president of the IACC, held a press conference to discuss how to strengthen government and industry ties to better combat counterfeit goods.
“Are we seeing places where more cooperation is needed?” Myers rhetorically asked Women’s Wear Daily. “Yes.”
Federal enforcement agencies and intellectual property owners have fortified their efforts to cut down on the counterfeit goods market, which costs the American retail industry over $30 Billion yearly.
Concerning its role in increasing consumer awareness about the consequences of purchasing counterfeits, Barchiesi said “In many cases, these are produced by forced labor or in sweatshops. We can get to the consumers and say, ‘Listen, the $5 you just spent, you don’t want to think about where it went.”
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