It is for this reason that the owners and representatives of 35 leading brands organised training workshops for all frontline Belgian authorities fighting the war against counterfeiting at police headquarters in Ghent on 17 and 18 November. Over two days, more than 200 customs and police specialists were given an opportunity to update their knowledge of products. In addition, such workshops are ideal for exchanging ideas on the latest developments in the fight against counterfeiting, regardless of product. Straight talking is therefore the order of the day as professionals share their experiences.
«The authorities are the first line of defence against counterfeiting… It's important therefore to have trained sleuths if we are to make a difference,» pointed out Me Annick Mottet Haugaard, a lawyer with LYDIAN and the FH adviser in Belgium. The training of civil servants is therefore the focus of much attention. Counterfeiting is a world of organised crime. But while clandestine, this sector of activity is extremely well organised. It is a threat therefore that must be met in a highly professional manner, hence the importance of close collaboration between the public and private sectors.
In this respect, training days fit the bill perfectly. The aim is to detect counterfeit products without delay and to identify their distribution network as far upstream as possible so that illicit products can be removed from the commercial chain before reaching the market.
The idea of the workshop's organisers is simple: rights holders exhibit authentic products alongside their counterfeit copies so that police and customs investigators can note their special features and differences (if any remain). Here, the business of getting down to brass tacks takes precedence over endless debate, which is what makes the event so worthwhile. For the FH, it is important to lend as much support as possible to this type of training, even though, naturally, representatives are unable to turn up with suitcases full of prestige watches. This makes the task harder, particularly since the trend is to make fake watches increasingly sophisticated and indistinguishable from the original models. Swiss watches are therefore presented on the basis of an iconographic profile backed up by precise technical explanations.
Then there is the basic message: the FH Anti-counterfeiting Department makes all its expertise and experience available to the authorities to support them as best it can in their difficult struggle against the counterfeiters. On this point, it is interesting to note that Belgium has introduced a brand new fraud squad, thereby demonstrating its determination to fight against all forms of criminality.
