BASCAP

Policy initiatives

BASCAP views on current issues

Free Trade Zones (FTZs)

The reduction of barriers and regulatory oversight associated with Free Trade Zones (FTZs) contributes significantly to the international trafficking of counterfeit goods. BASCAP has been working with international agencies to improve legal frameworks governing FTZs and eliminate the trade in counterfeit and pirated goods in these areas.

Proceeds of crime

The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the ICC Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) released a report in April 2013, advocating the confiscation of the proceeds of crime as an effective tool which governments can implement against the infiltration of transnational organized crime into the illicit business of counterfeiting and piracy.

Goods in transit

BASCAP submitted views on the issue of suspected counterfeit goods in transit under the revised EU Regulation on customs enforcement of intellectual property rights arguing that suspected counterfeit goods in transit must be covered effectively. Under the current revision of the Community Trade Mark Regulation (CMTR) and the Trade Mark Directive (TMD), BASCAP continues to advocate a strong legal framework for more effective enforcement against counterfeit goods in transit.

Plain packaging

In response to the Australian government's proposed plain packaging legislation, BASCAP has submitted several papers and a press release arguing that enactment of this bill would create a dangerous precedent that will have far-reaching impacts on the rights of trademark owners, on intellectual property rights in general, and most important, on Australian consumers.

European Observatory

BASCAP has worked closely with the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights since it was created by the European Commission in 2009 as the Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy. BASCAP members have been actively engaged on the three Observatory Expert Working Groups - Statistics, Legal and Public Awareness - and on BASCAP's consumer research and the "Fakes Cost More/I Buy Real" campaign. As a result of this close partnership with the Observatory, BASCAP was invited to participate in a stakeholder consultation process to provide input to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Markt (OHIM) on the future mission, objectives and work programme of the Observatory.

ACTA

The final version of the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) report for strengthening the enforcement of intellectual property rights was released on 3 December 2010. The high-level international framework began three years earlier when Canada, the EU, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States announced their intentions to draft the agreement.

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