Falsified goods from streets moved to Internet - Sites and Facebook profiles become Mecca for selling watches, wardrobe, perfumes, medicines...

Nike sneakers for RSD 2000, Fossil watch for RSD 1500, drugs which are currently not available in none of the drugstores – these are only some of the offers daily found by Internet users. Regardless of the fact whether you are buying a watch via web site or Facebook, the principle is basically the same. You send your wish to the owner, an owner sends goods via post or some carrier and you pay upon receipt.

Competent people estimate that 900,000 of our citizens were doing mouse click shopping this year. In most of the cases, goods are counterfeit. Just remember the case of Nenad Petrovic who has recently ordered a computer via Internet and got a log for RSD 11,500.

According to the data provided by the Market Inspection, the number of illegal sellers in the streets has decreased significantly but the quantity of confiscated goods increased. This only means that goods moved to the global network. This kind of goods is not taxed so the state is losing money generated through tax, shops are closed due to competition and the quality and health regularity of products are not controlled. And everything gets sold – from cosmetics and perfumes to shoes and clothes, watches and jewelry.

No warranties

If a buyer, instead of an original, gets a worse copy of , for instance, Nike sneakers or Gucci bag, he or she will suffer material damage. However, what about those who get falsified drug instead of the original one?

– Internet is a perfect tool for anonymous sales. We know that even some hospitals ordered drugs believing they were buying our products. The problem is there are no international laws against trading in falsified products over the Internet – Mirta Rivas shared an experience of the Novartis at the round table at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, when it comes to the problem of falsified goods turnover over the Internet.

Annual value of international trade in falsified goods totals hundreds of billions of dollars. Serbia is facing the same issue as well but the problem is that courts with criminal reports do not make decisions, the round table concluded.

A representative of the International organization for protection of stamps (INTA), Milan Milojevic, said that everything can be falsified, ranging from shoes to electric devices and drugs and in 2011, the value of the international trade with falsified goods reached USD 380 billion. As Milojevic said at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the World Health Organization estimates that 10% of sold goods is falsified and the number in Asia and Africa reaches 60%. He explained that turnover of falsified goods is carried out via Internet pages which generate wrong impression that it is about authorized domains and online shops via intermediate Internet platforms and user accounts on social networks.

Dealing with the situation

Speaking about problems emerging at intermediate platforms, Milojevic said that local platforms mostly have defined terms of use under which they cooperate with owners and the Ministry of internal affairs, and then they remove ads which sell falsified goods and forbid further advertising. Therefore, it is necessary to set up a coordination body which would include the ministry of internal affairs, customs, and owners of rights, RNIDS and sales platforms.

The representative of the Registry for the national internet domain of Serbia (RNIDS), Dejan Djukic, explained that rules do not imply check of neither entities which register domains nor content. Up till now, reacting to court orders, they have blocked a couple of domains. However, domain cancellation does not solve the problem because the content appears at another address in a couple of hours.

The Executive Manager of Limundo, Olga Maksimovic, said that at the Kupindo platform which operates within this company, by the end of the year a millionth item should be placed. Maksimovic said that by September, there were 3,3 million active items and that more than 1,4 million of them was sold. According to her, as of the beginning of the year, some 15.000 problematic items have been reported, which is 0,45% of total items at these platforms. Some 1.330 (9%) have been reported by members, 895 by label representatives and the rest was detected by the company.

Jelena Jovanovic, secretary of the Association for informatics activity at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce pointed out that this problem is now regulated in more than ten local laws and it is necessary to align our legislation with the international. Legislation should be systematized so that the Ministry of Internal and Foreign trade and telecommunications would consider it in the process of public discussion on new Law on electronic business.

Most goods come from Zajecar, Pirot and Prijepolje

The statistical data stated in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce indicate that in Serbia, majority of counterfeit goods sold over the Internet arrives from the towns near the border. For instance, most of the clothes is coming from Zajecar, perfumes form Pirot, sneakers with false labels from Prijepolje, etc.

Falsified goods is mainly produced in China, South Korea, Taiwan , wherefrom it is transported to the Middle East for packing in the packaging identical to the original one and then distributed to our market.

J.DJ.