KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — It is difficult for authorities to crack down on illicit trade when sales and marketing transactions are conducted online, said a former senior enforcement officer with the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry today.
“The present challenge is to trace those selling counterfeit goods through online sales and marketing,” said Guna Selan Marian at the Global Illicit Trade Summit in Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
He was also a panellist in a discussion on whether more regulations were needed to combat the problem.
Guna, who is now an enforcement consultant at Koh Dipendra Jeremiah Law, said sellers these days chose to buy goods themselves from countries like China, instead of engaging wholesalers, making it easier to smuggle counterfeit goods into the country.
“Items are brought in smaller packages or ‘handcarries’, and it’s even harder to detect,” he told reporters.
Guna said many enforcement agencies are involved in combating issues pertaining to illicit trade and the sales and distribution of counterfeit products, each with different priorities and that has made it more complicated to address the issue as a whole.
As a result, he added, action against counterfeit goods often takes a backseat when other issues demand more immediate attention.
“Trademark owners and intellectual property right owners must work with the authorities. The issue is that once their problem is resolved, they do not follow through with court action,” he said.
Guna also said that Malaysia had to accept the fact there is a problem with counterfeit and contraband products contributing to the illicit trade industry.
He said while the government is doing its best to address the problem through various ministries and the Royal Customs Department, it needs to be more attentive to the issues raised by industry players.
“There should be more collaborations between government agencies and the private sector to address the problem,” he added.
