Countering the counterfeiters
The underworld of counterfeiting extends far beyond just knock-off designer watches and handbags. Counterfeit electrical installation products are also a growing problem, and the consequences of their usage can be fatal. BEAMA Installation deputy director and Anti-counterfeiting Working Group Secretariat, Keith Smith, talks to Frankie Snobel about combating counterfeiting in the electrical industry
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We all like a bargain, but in terms of electrical installation products, if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is
42 ECA Today July 2012
EAMA’s Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group (ACWG) was formed back in 2000, with an aim to take action against counterfeiters making counterfeit electrical installation products, and the traders who distribute them into international markets. The process of combating such counterfeiting is not an easy one, and it involves well-coordinated efforts from BEAMA, intelligence officers and local law enforcement authorities. Here, Keith Smith discusses fakes, raids and what contractors need to be aware of when making their purchases.
oday: What defines a fake or counterfeit product, and are most fakes non-compliant? Keith Smith: Fakes, knock-offs, phoneys, forgeries – they are all terms used to describe a counterfeit product. Counterfeiting is the theft of intellectual property (IP) and IP theft can come in a number of forms. This includes stealing the design of a product, which could be a patented design. In the electrical industry, however, the counterfeiting doesn’t tend to be that of product design. It is the brand name and brand mark that is stolen. Counterfeiting is making an exact imitation of something that is valuable with the intent to deceive or defraud the person who is purchasing the product. It is a criminal offence. All counterfeit products are non-compliant, if not for technical performance, then through representation.
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oday: Is the UK electrical industry facing a big problem with counterfeit products? Keith Smith: The UK electrical industry doesn’t have a massive problem in terms of counterfeiting, and that is for
a number of reasons. The perception of the counterfeiter is that the UK is a fairly difficult market to enter. The UK’s market surveillance, law enforcement bodies, and strong border control make it quite difficult for the counterfeiter to get their product into the UK market.
The former British Standard markets – areas of the Far East, Middle East and Africa – are much easier targets for the counterfeiter, so the counterfeiter tends to flood those markets with counterfeit products and, to a lesser extent, that product could then come into the UK. If it came through to the UK, it probably wouldn’t come directly from the manufacturing source; it would go through an intermediary that would make it look like a legitimate route.
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oday: Should we expect to see a rise in counterfeit electrical products in the future? Keith Smith: The protection from counterfeiters at our borders is fairly robust, but we should never be complacent. It is so difficult to detect a counterfeit product, even for the expert. We’ve seen many counterfeit products where even our member companies find it difficult to detect the fact that the product in question was a counterfeit. Counterfeits are very often really good externally, but internally it is a totally different picture. Do we expect to see a rise? As global economic conditions continue to prove challenging, it makes it ever more likely that the counterfeiter will seek out and take greater risks to penetrate any high, or even reasonable, volume markets. And the volume market for our type of product is still centred around the UK. So we have to remain vigilant, maintain our market surveillance and take preventative actions, or else we will see an increase.
ECA T oday: How has the development of the internet
affected counterfeit trade, and how is BEAMA’s anti- counterfeiting team dealing with this? Keith Smith: The internet has had a major impact on the ability of the counterfeiter to reach a wider potential customer base. It now gives the counterfeit manufacturer and the counterfeit trader very quick and easy access to end market customers. It is so easy now for the counterfeiter to set up a website, so we have to be extremely vigilant. We see on a regular basis websites with links to branded products, and invariably our process has us go back to the brand owner to check whether that
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