Counterfeiting of Indian Brands by China causing $5 Bilion losses

Chinese manufacturers are increasingly "faking" popular Indian products

of consumer goods giants such as Dabur and ITC, undermining the

legitimacy of brands and causing losses worth as much as $5 billion

annually, officials said.

"A lot of counterfeit Dabur products are made in China. We have

conducted at least 20 raids in China but no proper action has been taken

by the Chinese," said Ashok Jain, general manager of finance at Dabur

India, the country's fourth largest FMCG firm.

He said such fake products manufactured in China with "Made-in-India"

tag are supplied across the world, mostly in India and African

countries.

"It causes huge damage to the brand. Those fake products are obviously

not up to our standards and supplied at very low prices," Jain told

IANS.

Dabur, which has nearly $4 billion market capitalisation, operates in

key consumer product categories like healthcare, skin care, hair care

and oral care. The company's revenue last fiscal was $910 million.

Pradeep Dixit, a senior official of ITC, a $33-billion conglomerate,

said the popular FMCG brands of the company were counterfeited by

unscrupulous firms and supplied in domestic as well as foreign markets.

"Our popular cigarette brand is faked and supplied widely in the states

like Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said.

"China is a big problem everybody is facing," said S.K. Goel, chairman

of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, told IANS.

Goel said the big international brands like Nokia, Adidas, Reebok and

Nivea were also widely counterfeited in China and supplied in India and

other parts of the world.

Chinese manufacturers are also faking drugs, endangering lives of

patients. Fake drugs, carrying " Made in India" tags, supplied from

China were recently detained in Nigeria and other African countries.

K.K. Vyas, Delhi's deputy commissioner of police (crime), said the

police have seized and confiscated a lot of fake and counterfeited

products of popular brands in the national capital recently.

Vyas emphasised on the need for enhancing punishment for unscrupulous

manufacturers and importers. "Punishment needs to be enhanced. Also

there is need that judiciary addresses these issues quickly."

"Counterfeiting is a big menace. It is hurting everybody - consumers,

industry and the exchequer," said Anil Rajput, chairman of the

anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting committee of Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Recently, FICCI formed a panel called "FICCI-Cascade" that expands into

a committee on anti-smuggling and counterfeiting activities destroying

the economy. Chaired by Rajput, the committee is working closely with

the government to curb this menace.

According to a report by think tank Indiaforensic Research Foundation,

the total loss to the economy annually due to crimes such as

counterfeiting, commercial fraud, smuggling, drug trafficking, bank

fraud, tax evasion and graft is estimated at Rs.22,528 crore.