Counterfeit products
across various sectors in India are causing losses of over 1 trillion INR every
year to the government and the number of counterfeit cases has increased by
nearly 24 percent in 2019 as compared to 2018. This causes business to lose
brand equity and revenues, besides putting consumer safety at risk.
Realising the magnitude of damage caused by counterfeiting to the Indian economy, brands and consumers, Authentication Solutions Providers’ Association (ASPA) and GS1 India have joined hands to take the fight against counterfeiting to the next level in India.
According to ASPA Counterfeit Repository findings alcohol, FMCG, pharmaceutical, tobacco, agriculture and automotive are among the top sectors with the highest number of counterfeits in 2018 and 2019. During the COVID 19 pandemic period, between January to March 2020, more than 150+ cases of counterfeit incidents had been reported in the media. In March and April 2020, more than one case per day was reported related to fake PPE’s kits, sanitizers and masks.
Jointly, the
organisations will be sensitising stakeholders in this respect and will spread
awareness and motivate brands and customers to use a mobile application called
Smart Consumer which has been launched to empower consumers with digital
product information and is powered by the national repository of information on
retailed products – DataKart, that is populated directly by brand owners.
Nakul Pasricha,
president, ASPA, said: ‘We are committed to building the authentication
eco-systems in the country and enhance our relationship with other bodies
working in the same space. The authentication environment will support
Government “Make in India” initiative and its image at global level, where
trust is becoming an especially important factor. We need to ensure that the
“Make in India” products are genuine, safe, and secure until they are delivered
to the end consumer across the globe.
Involvement and
active participation of all stakeholders is extremely crucial in this as a lot
of awareness is required at industry, consumer, and government level. We are
sure that by combining resources of GS1 India and ASPA, we will add more
momentum to our endeavors in fighting the menace of counterfeiting and develop
the anti-counterfeiting ecosystem.’
S Swaminathan, COO,
GS1 India, added: ‘At GS1 India, we are constantly working towards overcoming
the blocks in the global supply chain that prevent visibility and transparency.
With this partnership with ASPA, we aim to further strengthen our endeavor to
address the ever growing threats presented by counterfeit products in existing
supply chains. The use of GS1 standards and products like traceability, Smart
Consumer app, DataKart, among others, will help Indian businesses gain trust of
their consumers and trading partners by seamless sharing of product
information. This would also act as a foundational step in our journey and
empower consumers to authenticate products using the Smart Consumer mobile app.
ASPA is a
self-regulated non-profit organization that represents the entire physical and
digital authentication solutions industry. GS1 India, a standards body, is
responsible for administering the use of global supply chain standards in India
that enable businesses to implement counterfeit detection and product
authentication solutions to safeguard their supply chains.
Together ASPA and
GS1 India will jointly work to create awareness about the counterfeiting problems
and build knowledge through various tools, including trainings, publishing of
articles, enriching websites, etc., to drive adoption of global standards for
detecting and controlling counterfeits.
