Gamiaw WorldNews: US govt, PH law enforcers team up to combat smuggling

US Department of Homeland Security, Fight IT, and Law Enforcement team up versus smuggling

(Photo from the US Embassy in Manila)

The United States government has organized a workshop for Philippine law enforcers to intensify its action against trademark violators, the US Embassy in Manila said in a news release.

About 37 members from the Bureau of Customs (BoC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) joined the workshop, led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and with the support of Fight Illicit Trade movement, the anti-smuggling initiative of the Federation of Philippine Industries.

The workshop was organized to increase participants’ understanding of the critical role of law enforcement in the successful pursuit of counterfeit products cases and improve cooperation between government and private experts in the field of intellectual property protection.

“One of our key areas of focus is combatting counterfeit goods and this workshop is very timely in its message on collaboration between government and the private sector. If we are to make a dent in this issue we must all be better equipped in our investigation techniques and in pushing through cases all the way to successful prosecution. This is the only way we can achieve a suitable deterrent,” Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) Director General Atty. Josephine Santiago said.

US HSI Attaché Ransom Avilla added, “These partnerships with the Philippine government and the private sector are how we are able to detect, interdict, and assist with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations. Due to the transnational nature of these crimes, we depend on these partnerships for successful outcomes.”

The training was hands-on and designed to be interactive. It demonstrated to the enforcers the steps required to build a successful trademark violation case, beginning with the application of a search warrant, Avilla said.

During the workshop, US Embassy Economic Officer Brian Breuhaus highlighted the progress the Philippines has made on IPR issues.

Following several decades on the Special 301 report Watch list, which identifies countries who deny adequate effective protection for IPR, the Philippines has been removed from list for the last three consecutive years.

He attributed the country’s delisting to a coordinated effort by the government led by the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR).