PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION

Press Release

22 November 2007
Working to stop counterfeit products

Richard Halverson, Deputy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in London made the following remarks during the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's (MHRA) Combating Counterfeit Medicines Conference. Mr. Halverson noted that in recent years, counterfeiting, piracy, and other Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations have grown in magnitude and complexity, costing businesses $600 billion worldwide in lost revenue and often posing health and safety risks to consumers. This is especially true when counterfeit pharmaceuticals and medicines are involved. The concerns that can arise, including antifreeze being used in toothpaste and a cancer drug containing an inadequate dosage of active ingredient, are daunting. Mr. Halverson emphasized that ICE and its partners, including the MHRA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are committed to detecting, interdicting, arresting and prosecuting those involved in these illegal acts.

The growth in IPR violations has been fueled in part by the spread of enabling technology allowing simple and low-cost duplication of copyrighted products, as well as by the rise in organized crime groups that smuggle and distribute counterfeit merchandise for profit. In many cases, the enormous profits realized from the sale of counterfeit goods are used by international organized crime groups to bankroll other criminal activities, such as the trafficking in illegal drugs, weapons and other contraband.

As the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plays a leading role in targeting criminal organizations responsible for producing, smuggling, and distributing counterfeit products. ICE investigations focus not only on keeping counterfeit products off U.S. streets, but also on dismantling the criminal organizations behind this activity.

Between fiscal years 2002 and 2006, ICE agents arrested more than 700 individuals for IPR violations and dismantled several large scale criminal organizations that distributed counterfeit merchandise to nations around the globe. At the same time, ICE investigations into these networks resulted in 449 criminal indictments and 425 convictions. Together, ICE and CBP seized more than $750 million worth of counterfeit goods from fiscal year 1998 through fiscal year 2006.

Through mid-fiscal year 2007, ICE and CBP have seized over $110 million worth of counterfeit goods, of which counterfeit pharmaceuticals represented approximately 9% of the total.

Questions or requests for additional information should be made to the ICE Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC, telephone: 202-514-2648 or fax: 202-307-1918.

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