State commits funds to drive fight against counterfeits

The Government has committed to substantially fund its anti-counterfeit and intellectual property (IP) agencies to bolster industrial sector.

Signaling Kenya’s intent to scale up the war on counterfeits, Industrialisation and Enterprise Development Principal Secretary Wilson Songa, said fighting the scourge will require institutional reinforcement to enable agencies manage the issue and create a conducive environment for legitimate investments key to the industrialisation agenda.

Leading the private sector leaders and anti-counterfeit agencies in the destruction of counterfeit cigarettes worth Sh50 million during the 5th Annual World Anti-Counterfeit Day celebrations in Mombasa, Dr Songa warned that counterfeit goods stand in the way of the Governments ‘Ease of Doing Business’ reforms agenda.

Parallel economy

“Counterfeiting is a parallel economy outside the realm of commercial and fiscal ‘normality’. It must therefore be prohibited locally and globally in order to create optimum conditions for securing production, fiscal revenue, employment and investments,” he said.

Songa noted that improving the ease of doing business is identified as one of the priority areas to address Kenya’s industrialisation goals towards the achievement of Vision 2030.

Urging for a fundamental mindset shift amongst all stakeholders in combating counterfeits, he called on State agencies and intellectual property rights owners to focus on the unity of purpose in applying all applicable statutes pushing for maximum and prohibitive penalties.

“It must not be business as usual going forward; intellectual property rights owners must also be at the forefront to protect their IP through registrations with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute, launching complaints with the ACA (Anti-Counterfeit Agency) on their IP infringement and sharing intelligence towards successful convictions,” said Songa.