World Customs Organization, GS1 Sign Pact to Boost Fight Against Counterfeits
A Sept. 4 cooperation agreement between the World Customs Organization and GS1, an international body that develops supply chain standards, could help customs agencies fight counterfeiting and piracy, the signers said Sept. 6. They agreed to maintain a continuous working…
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relationship on all customs-related matters, leveraging the use of WCO tools and GS1 identification standards as part of a global effort to tackle the illegal trade in bogus and pirated goods. The WCO Interface Public-Members (IPM) tool, rolled out in 2010 to boost communication between customs officials and rights holders, enables better information-sharing and helps customs agencies deal with counterfeiting issues, they said. GS1 standards allow items to be uniquely identified, which cuts costs and increases security, they said. Under the agreement, the parties plan to discuss potential joint projects and concrete measures to promote the use of GS1 global identification and traceability standards; design a new IPM functionality based on GS1 identification numbers to allow counterfeit products to be identified, including on mobile devices; and run a two-year pilot on the use of GS1 standards by customs and other law enforcement agencies, they said.