Vietnam, EU Cooperate in Fighting Counterfeit Goods

A five-day seminar on cooperation between Vietnam and the EU in fighting counterfeit goods opened in Hanoi on March 20.

 

The workshop is a chance for customs officials and economic police from Hanoi and the northern provinces to discuss with the EU’s customs experts measures to fight counterfeit goods as well as the application of new technology in the field.

 

The seminar, is jointly organized by the EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Program (ECAP II) and the Vietnamese General Department of Customs in the framework of cooperation between Vietnam and the EU in accelerating the implementation of intellectual property rights.

 

Vietnam is the biggest assistance receiver with 1.5 million euros from the EC’s 9-million-euro budget for the ECAP II initiative to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights and to boost trade and knowledge exchanges between the EU and ASEAN.

 

According to forecasts at the World Economic Forum held in 2003, the value of counterfeit goods in the world is 450 billion euros each year, accounting for 5-7 per cent of the world’s trade.