Technology firm, Hewlett Packard (HP) has announced plans to step up its battle against counterfeits in Nigeria and the region this year, in response to the increasing incidents of fake printing supplies.
The company said while counterfeit printing supplies for HP’s LaserJet, Color LaserJet and Inkjet printers has remained a global issue, Africa has remained an area where organised counterfeit activity is especially rampant.
HP Anti-Counterfeit (ACF) Programme Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Tina Rose, said: “Counterfeiters and fraudulent traders frequently deceive customers into thinking they are buying genuine goods, with print cartridges either packed in copies of original HP boxes or in reused original HP boxes. Buyers of counterfeit print cartridges run several risks, ranging from substandard print quality to printer downtime due to damage by inferior counterfeit supplies.”
She said HP routinely cooperates with law-enforcement authorities across the region to identify and destroy fake printing supplies.
This, she said, became manifest, for instance, during HP’s 2009 fiscal year (November 1, 2008 through October 31, 2009), when HP oversaw about 320,000 seized finished counterfeits and components intended for illegal re-use, 55 substantial leads, 27 investigations, 20 enforcement actions and 77 Channel Partner Anti-Counterfeit Audits (3 partners failed as counterfeits were found).
This included 14 substantial leads received in Nigeria where HP conducted eight investigations and 15 Channel Partner Anti-Counterfeit Audits in this period. The latest large seizure in Nigeria was in April 2008 and consisted of more than 4,200 finished counterfeits and components intended for illegal re-use.
HP’s cooperation with local authorities in EMEA) led to the seizure of nearly 2 million counterfeits and components intended for illegal reuse, more than twice the number of items confiscated during the previous year.
HP’s overall track record for EMEA during fiscal years 2007-2009 (November 1, 2006 through October 31, 2009) includes 5.9 million seized counterfeits and components, more than 1,500 substantial leads, close to 850 investigations and around 550 enforcement actions.
Globally, from 2005-2008 HP conducted 4,620 investigations in 55 countries resulting in 3,528 enforcement actions (raids and seizures by authorities) seizing a total value of more than $795 million USD worth of counterfeit HP supplies products. (Investigations and actions have occurred on every continent except Antarctica.)
During HP’s 2009 fiscal year, local authorities in Africa seized 320,000 fake print cartridges and components. Major raids took place in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates the annual value of international trade in counterfeit goods at $200 billion. The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) believe that counterfeiting drains an estimated EUR 500 billion per year from the global economy, equivalent to the loss of about 5-8 per cent of trade in brand-name goods worldwide, including the illegal trade in fake printing supplies.
