The production and distribution of counterfeit products has been consistently an issue dealt with by authorities, companies, and consumer organisations for years. According to the OECD, the release of counterfeit products onto the market has been increased by 154% from 2005 to 2016, largely because of the booming of e-commerce.
Counterfeit products are harmful to both companies’ economy and consumers’ health. In the case of products for children, counterfeiting seriously impair health of the most vulnerable consumers, children. The EUIPO’s “Qualitative Study on Risks Posed by Counterfeits to Consumers. 2019” study found that the 80% of the unsafe and counterfeit products were products for children.
Hence the origin of the CounterRisk “New skills to face the risks of counterfeiting in consumer goods” European project led by AIJU for developing innovative training tools approaching the protection of company’s intellectual property, the safety in products for children and the way new technologies, such as blockchain, might help to fight against counterfeiting.
The project is mainly aimed to professionals of products for children, including SMEs and technical staff from consumer organisations, since they are a key community that reach people who purchase consumer goods for children, either on-line or in physical premises.
The aim of the CounterRisk Project is to help improve the competences of professionals in this field and to build awareness of the economic and health risks that counterfeiting pose to society.
The CounterRisk Project is carried out by a European partnership led by AIJU (Spain), in partnership with the University of Strasbourg (France), Lucentia Lab (Spain), the Association for the Promotion of Child Safety (Portugal) and the Czech Toys Association (the Czech Republic).
The project is also supported by the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI); the European consumer voice in standardisation (ANEC), Alicante Science Park, European Association for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (EUROSAFE) and the Cluster of Innovative Companies of the Toy Valley-CEIV.
The CounterRisk “New skills to face the risks of counterfeiting in consumer goods” Project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The content published falls in its entirety under the responsibility of the AIJU and neither the European Commission, nor the Spanish Service for Internationalization of Education (SEPIE) can be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
More info: Mª Cruz Arenas
