Campaign to promote the purchase at local shops

'Be responsible with your shopping, there is a lot at stake'

As we pointed out on the previous number of our bulletin, one of the after-effects of our current commercial model is the incessant rise of counterfeiting which infringe the rights of both users and entrepreneurs. In response to this reality, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism propelled the campaign 'Be responsible with your shopping, there is a lot at stake', which was launched past December 17th with the intention of making consumers aware that the purchase of counterfeit products can have a deep impact on economy, employment and safety. The campaign consists in a series of advertisements for radio and posters for press and social networks which convey the message that two products apparently identical '...are not alike' because 'If you buy original products and discard counterfeit ones, you generate employment, culture, innovation, business projects... In addition, you are protecting your rights as a consumer and you contribute, even if you do not believe it, to fight against labour exploitation'.

With the aim of illustrating the present situation, Reyes Maroto, Principal of the Ministry, shared the following official figures: counterfeiting causes the loss of 6,175 million euros in commercial sales and the destruction of 67,000 direct jobs per year, in addition it causes risks for consumers health, whose rights turn out to be limited by the lack of guarantees that counterfeit products entail. Furthermore, Maroto emphasized the need of promoting the cooperation between central, regional and local administrations to fight against counterfeiting. In this sense, the Ministry of Industry is preparing a National Anti-Counterfeiting Plan 2019-2020 with a four-axis approach: coordination between administrations, regulation, education and awareness-raising, and analysis of the situation.

The 'Report on measures to fight against those activities that infringe IP rights', approved by the Spanish Cabinet past December 14th, was also presented in this context. The report highlights the negative consequences that counterfeit products have on fiscal income, health and safety, as well as on trademarks reputation and innovation, not to mention their harmful effects on the environment.