Virtually all brands—from the utmost recognized to the newly eager—face threats of product counterfeiting and gray market trading. In emerging countries, this menace is bold and audacious with outright fakes appearing in the open marketplace. In developed countries, the problem is equally insidious due to online sales of counterfeit products through e-commerce platforms.
I recently participated in a national campaign to warn consumers about the prevalence of counterfeit products—they are virtually everywhere. And more importantly, to let people know that there isn’t one failsafe method at this time to guarantee the authenticity of the products you purchase.
On November 12, Systech hosted the webinar Connected Packaging for Pharma—from Brand Protection to Consumer Insight.
During the webinar, our robust audience participated in peer benchmark polls and asked a number of questions.
Did you know that 80 percent of the world’s counterfeit goods come from China? Everything including luxury goods, cosmetics, wine and spirits, medicine and more are vulnerable to duplication and sometimes the fakes are so similar that it can be hard to determine the real from the phony. With that being said, brand owners across the globe view China’s counterfeiting business as a threat to their own.
In partnership with SafeProof.
Bootlegging alcohol didn’t get left behind in the Prohibition Era. In fact, according to a 2014 report by the World Health Organization, unregulated alcohol makes up 25% of all consumption worldwide. But what are the implications of fake alcohol? Why should everyone from consumers to manufacturers to government entities care? Let’s take a look at the facts.
India is on the cusp of introducing a new serialization program for domestic pharmaceutical products. Indian officials have designated this new initiative as a track and trace program though it appears from media reports that the proposed mandate will instead be aimed at creating a consumer-based authentication program. The idea is to print a unique serial number on drug packages so that consumers may authenticate the product via an SMS- or call-enabled mechanism to verify the code.
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The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has just released a comprehensive report on counterfeiting and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) infringement in the European Union.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are working non-stop to get the serialization systems in place necessary to meet the USA DSCSA mandate going live this November, and the EU FMD mandate going live the following February of 2019. If serialization projects aren’t in full flight at this time, there is a significant chance that a manufacturer will not meet the deadline, not be compliant and not be able to distribute product in those geographies.
Last week, I received a notice from the manufacturer of my car that the front passenger side airbag of my make, model and year had an issue and recall notice. However, the replacement part would not be available until Spring. Until the part is replaced, nobody can sit in the front passenger seat due to the significant dangers if this airbag were to deploy. What an annoyance, but how great is it that the manufacturer found me to provide the information and warning?
By Steve Tallant, Director, Product Management and Marketing
Until recently, counterfeit health and beauty products could not be verified as the actual product, or authenticated, quickly and cost-effectively. Unfortunately, counterfeiters have been able to obtain printing and imaging technologies that mimic the real thing. Furthermore, Internet-based distribution outlets have proliferated, and it is difficult to tell an e-retailer that sells legitimate products from one selling counterfeits.
