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40 per cent of all FMCG products are counterfeit: EIPR

Rakesh P Sharma

For all those who are extremely savvy about imported cosmetics, perfumes and other fast moving consumer goods here's some bad news.

According to the Enforcers of the Intellectual Property Right, 40-45 per cent of all imported FMCG products, including perfumes, shampoos, soaps, hair dyes, apparels and liquor, in the domestic market are counterfeits products.

And a large number of these products flow in from various other Asian countries, including China, Malaysia and Taiwan. The counterfeit problem is not limited to imported products alone, a large number of branded consumer goods are also manufactured in the grey market.

Says Zaheer Khan, director, EIPR, "These counterfeit products are available in the best departmental stores in the country and because of the attractive packaging it is very difficult to differentiate these products from the genuine. The magnitude of the problem is so large that companies need to wake up, as brand loyalty is broken."

EIPR is one of the first intellectual property right firms in the country, which specialises in the field of combating the growing menace of counterfeit goods and products.

EIPR is promoted by A A Khan, the man credited with having put militants on the run from Bombay city, and H K Khan, a professional from the Indian Administrative Service.

"Our main objective is to catch all those manufacturers, who are supplying counterfeit products in the country and to do this we work in very close association with other government agencies," says Zaheer Khan.

Apart from FMCG products, a large number of antibiotics and life saving drugs are also counterfeit products. Adds Zaheer Khan, "Most of these pharma products are manufactured on the outskirts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and sold along the with the genuine products through a parallel market."

Zaheer points out that the scenario in software segment is even worse, with more than 80-85 per cent of all softwares being available in the grey market.

In fact, EIPR has only recently conducted search operations for some multinational corporations. Commenting on the impact of quantitative restrictions being lifted on a number of consumer goods, Zaheer said, "the inflow of counterfeit goods into the country will rise, but the quality of these products are likely to improve."

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