By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Fake Louis Vuitton, fake Marlboro cigarettes, fake car spare parts, and the list goes on _ the global market is flooded with counterfeit goods with at least $200 billion worth of knockoffs traded internationally in 2005, said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Monday.
Releasing an 18-month study on trading counterfeited and pirated goods across national borders, the Paris-based club of rich countries called on nations to clamp down on forgeries.
``Trade in counterfeit goods is a big problem and getting bigger,'' said John Dryden, deputy director of OECD's Science, Technology and Industry Directorate. ``It is pervasive, it involves some pretty, unsavory and ruthless characters, and it has serious implications for health, safety, living standards and jobs.''
He also added that such practice is also a major disincentive to invent and innovate.
Asia was targeted as the single largest source of fake goods, with 86 percent of seized products from China.
The report highlighted car parts, tobacco, drugs, household products and electrical components as key counterfeit products.
The nature of pirated goods varies depending on the market. For example, fake car parts are big in the Middle East, while consumption of counterfeit tobacco products is highest in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The $200 billion figure excludes illicit products produced and consumed in the same country and also excludes pirated digital products exchanged via the Internet.
``If these items were added, the total magnitude of counterfeiting and piracy worldwide could be several hundred billion dollars more,'' the OECD official said.
The OECD demands that governments and businesses invest more in collecting and analyzing information and enforce a framework to report the health and safety effects of illegally made goods.
But regulators of counterfeit businesses say that buying and selling fake goods within the local market have sharply declined recently.
``Those in the business are realizing that the risk isn't worth it because once they get caught, the penalty and other punishment is far too harsh compared to the profitability,'' said an officer at the Yongsan Police Station.
Itaewon and Dongdaemun, which are well known as hot sports for abundant knockoffs, are less frequented by shoppers, he added.
The full report will be released in late June.