Peru Congress installs commission fighting counterfeiting and piracy
With the objective to drastically reduce the illegal entrance of contraband merchandise into the country – a business ascending to more than US$ 1.2 billion annually – the Peruvian parliament approved a bill on Wednesday that will make the ‘commission for the fight against customs violations and piracy’ a permanent organ with more power.
The chairman of the ‘Production and Microbusiness Commission’, Daniel Abugattás, said that this norm will restructure and optimize the work and efforts of this commission dedicated to fight counterfeiting and product piracy.
He maintained that it was necessary to promulgate this bill because of the alarming numbers that the state treasury has gathered during the year’s first quarter.
The law, which was approved unanimously and went immediately in effect by a second vote, stipulates the creation of a “technical secretariat” supervised by the Ministry of Production. The commission will consist of representatives from the Ministries of the Interior, Economy and Finances, Foreign Trade and Tourism, Defense, and also the National Superintendency of Tax Administration (SUNAT), the attorney general’s office, and other public and private organs.
This commission’s main task is to coordinate and organize actions in the fight against counterfeiting, contraband and piracy in Peru.
Another concern is the fast increasing illegal business of copying music and software CD’s and DVD’s. However, these practices are mainly a domestic problem and has nothing to do with illegal imports or customs violations. The government says such piracy inhibits artistic creativity and denies the country needed taxes. “‘We are calling on everyone to come out and help us crush counterfeit goods,” a government official said who oversees intellectual property rights.
Every year SUNAT and law enforcement members seize tons of CD’s and DVD’s during their inspections with a commercial value that reaches millions of dollars. On some occasions, and to raise public awareness, the seized merchandise is destroyed in the streets of Lima. Musicians agree. In 2003 a number of them danced on the pile of discs.
About 98 percent of the music CD’s and DVD’s in Peru are pirated, one of the highest rates in the world.
Article by Wolfy Becker