Intellectual Property Rights is high in the Customs Agenda

In order to update and familiarize the customs officers with the methods of expertise and identification of genuine products as well as combat counterfeited goods, the representatives of nine world-famous brands were invited as a speakers to the training "Combatting Counterfeiting and Piracy". The training was organized in Baku by the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia in partnership with the Government of Azerbaijan in the frame of "UNODC-World Customs Organization (WCO) Global Container Control Programme - Regional Segment for Central Asia and Azerbaijan". Representatives of the Customs Committees from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan took part in the event.

The training provided participants the opportunity to discuss the legal mechanisms of combating counterfeiting and piracy, WCO tools in this sphere, types of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), IPR risk assessment techniques as well as safety and security measures, etc. The participants interacted with the representatives of private companies and right-holders of the world`s most famous brands on how to detect fake goods and improve the cooperation between Customs and Private Sector. The event was composed of theoretical training in the classroom and practical exercises in the field.

The Chairman of the State Customs Committee, Lieutenant-General Aydin Aliyev said - "one of the most important tasks of customs is the protection of intellectual property rights" and expressed his confidence that "the customs services of the countries taking part in the workshop would play an important role in taking effective measures in this sphere." Ms. Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia thanked the Government of Azerbaijan for hosting the training and stressed the importance of combatting counterfeiting in the region.

The CCP Regional Segment for Central Asia and Azerbaijan is funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program as well as the Government of Japan.