"Stop the public unknowingly funding organised crime"

5.31.52pm GMT Thu 3rd Dec 2009

Bill Newton Dunn MEP (East Midlands) today challenged the EU to develop consumer centred responses that will protect citizens from increasingly convincing fake goods and services being sold in conventional supply lines across the EU.

Newton Dunn, who is co-founder of the European Parliamentary Forum for the Combat of Counterfeit, Contraband and Organised Crime said, "Every time somebody buys a cheap fake, the money goes to criminals, some of whom are linked to terrorists."

"With 27 new Commissioners now is the time to maximize the use of existing consumer protection, as well as supporting effective law enforcement.

"Counterfeiting is like any other consumer deception. I'm excited to see the evolution of thinking in these terms at the Commission, in the private sector and in civil society. We need to develop effective responses based on the consumer, as well as on intellectual property rights."

Meeting with stakeholders in the European Parliament, Newton Dunn highlighted the need to raise awareness of these issues among MEPs and national parliamentarians, saying:

"Next June we will host a counterfeiting exhibition that will show just how many goods are faked, and how far criminals will go. I hope that politicians and policy-makers will come to that exhibition and see for themselves the extent of the problem we face."