Toys, cigarettes, drugs, clothes, etc.
: Unanimously, the National Assembly adopted on Thursday at first reading a bill aimed at better combating counterfeiting, an "
underestimated poison
" which "
finances very organized mafia sectors
".
This text, with the outcome still uncertain as the parliamentary calendar is tight, concretizes the work of the deputies Pierre-Yves Bournazel (Agir Ensemble) and Christophe Blanchet (MoDem), members of the majority and authors of a report on the subject.
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In particular, it proposes the establishment of a dedicated observatory within the National Institute of Intellectual Property (Inpi) and the creation of a flat-rate fine of 200 euros for people who hold counterfeit products.
The bill wants to extend the practice of “
customs buying coup
” to falsified medicines, by having them bought and checked by customs agents, if necessary with borrowed identities.
The text also intends to strengthen the provisions facing the scale of sales of counterfeit products on the internet.
A shortfall of eight billion euros per year
Christophe Blanchet calls for “
changing the view
” on counterfeiting, far from being limited to the luxury sector.
“
The first counterfeit product in France is games and toys for children.
It is urgent to make our fellow citizens aware of the danger they take for their children when they buy counterfeit products on the Internet,
”he insists.
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In total, counterfeit products represent a shortfall for the French state of eight billion euros per year, estimates the parliamentary report.
It is also "
a bill of appeal so that we can go faster and further, and that within the framework of the French presidency of the European Union
" in early 2022, "
France can bring this subject
".
More particularly on the “
responsibility of platforms and social networks which allow too many counterfeit products to thrive
,” insisted Pierre-Yves Bournazel in the hemicycle.