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Counterfeit Brands Cost Indonesian Economy $4.8b
Shirley Christie | November 15, 2011

Indonesia loses Rp 43.2 trillion ($4.8 billion) in potential taxes each year as more counterfeit goods - from pharmaceuticals to electronics - flood into the country, a study indicates, but the government is doing its best to turn that trend around. (JG Photo/File) Indonesia loses Rp 43.2 trillion ($4.8 billion) in potential taxes each year as more counterfeit goods - from pharmaceuticals to electronics - flood into the country, a study indicates, but the government is doing its best to turn that trend around. (JG Photo/File)
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SirAnthonyKnown-Bender
10:06am Nov 15, 2011

You are what you wear ay? Anyone subscribing to the vacuous, vulgar, dehumanizing designer-label paradigm deserves to be ripped off. Fashionable consumption distracts people from the real issues of the day.

SirAnthonyKnown-Bender
10:01am Nov 15, 2011

"For now, we can only encourage [stores and shopping centers] not to sell counterfeits,” said the directorate’s enforcement director, Fathlurachman. “In a year or two we’ll focus on

enforcement.”

Pfft, heard it all before. You've got stores in plazas selling this stuff. If they wanted to close it down, they could do it tomorrow.

"Indonesia loses Rp 43.2 trillion ($4.8 billion) in potential taxes"

Potential being the operative word. These figures are always utter garbage as they assume that someone buying ten pirated DVDs at Rp.7000 a pop would have bought the originals at Rp.150,000 a pop, which is obviously absurd.

“Counterfeiting has hurt state income and created unemployment.”

Well the stuff doesn't make itself does it for crying pout loud. From what we know of the dreadful labour practices of many multinational companies, workers making fake stuff probably labour under no worse conditions than people making the originals. Plus it creates jobs for the sellers.

P.Bear
9:53am Nov 15, 2011

"In a year or two we'll focus on enforcement." Good to see they're planning to sort this problem out without any undue delay !

blightyboy
8:53am Nov 15, 2011

The very worse are those who sell counterfeit goods as originals. Ubud for example, a major tourist destination, has maybe 15 or 20 shops that are branded as top fashion houses, such as Polo, Paul Smith and D&G. The tourists think they are buying discounted originals but they are fakes. This does terrible damage to the reputation of a town and to those who sell genuine, quality goods. They are breaking the law, just shut them down. Or are the owners untouchable?

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Indonesia loses Rp 43.2 trillion ($4.8 billion) in potential taxes each year as more counterfeit goods flood into the country, a study indicates, but the government is doing its best to turn that trend around.

The study, conducted by the University of Indonesia’s Institute for Economic and Social Research and the Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting Society (MIAP), surveyed 500 people from June to October on their consumption of fake goods.

“The losses are based on the calculations of just 12 sectors,” MIAP secretary general Justisiari Perdana Kusuma said.

The sectors, chosen for their high consumption rates, included pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, clothing, automotive parts, electronics and computer software.

Hoping to combat piracy and counterfeit goods, the directorate on intellectual property at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on Monday introduced its “original store campaign.”

“For now, we can only encourage [stores and shopping centers] not to sell counterfeits,” said the directorate’s enforcement director, Fathlurachman. “In a year or two we’ll focus on enforcement.”

Justisiari said MIAP welcomes the ministry’s campaign.

“Hopefully [the campaign] will not be limited to conventional products like clothes or bags, but will also target sophisticated ones like songs, movies and software,” Justisiari said. “Counterfeiting has hurt state income and created unemployment.”

But the ministry has its hands full. Fathlurachman said his office only had 12 investigators, which meant it could only investigate 13 cases out of 27 complaints of copyright infringement.

“There are cases of counterfeit Honda generators and NGK spark plugs among other things,” he said, adding that only a handful of investigations resulted in a resolution. Two cases have been settled in court but the rest are ongoing.

The directorate general, Fathlurachman said, is seeking a court conviction which he believes would serve as a deterrent for other future forgers.

“We want the cases to be prosecuted, but disputing sides agreed to settle out of court,” he said.

As part of the “original store campaign,” his office will issue certificates for shopping centers that only sell original goods.

At the moment, only upscale malls such as Senayan City in South Jakarta have obtained such certificates, Fathlurachman said, but shopping centers that fail the certification process are subjected to random raids.

“We have confiscated thousands of pirated DVDs from Plaza Semanggi [in South Jakarta],” he added.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative released its Special 301 Report for 2011, which highlights efforts and shortcomings by its trade partners to tackle piracy. For the third consecutive year, Indonesia was named in the report’s Priority Watch List for lax enforcement of intellectual property rights.