Southern Africa’s porous land borders and congested ports are boosting illicit trade in the region which has been linked to organised crime syndicates in China, Pakistan, India, Israel and Afghanistan. According to Michael Lamont, an associate with Adams & Adams, counterfeiting is big business – and while Africa has long been regarded as the dumping ground for counterfeit goods, it is a
growing global problem. According to the World Economic Forum, the global value of illicit trade and transnational activities is estimated at between 8% and 15% of global GDP, potentially reaching as high as $12trillion in 2014. To put this into context, this was approximately the size of China’s total economic output in that same year. Speaking in Mbombela recently, Lamont said that it was estimated that China and Hong Kong were the source of
86% of the world’s counterfeit goods, with around 600 million such products produced in China being sold around the globe. “The large influx and scourge of counterfeit goods in southern Africa is attributable to a number of factors, including the porous borders,” he said. Citing the example of the Port of Durban, which receives some 4000 containers per day, of which only about 3.5% are physically inspected, Lamont said stamping out illicit trade was a daunting task. “In South Africa approximately three in-market search and detention or seizure operations are carried out daily in the fight against the proliferation of counterfeit goods.” Yet it remains a drop in the ocean.
Lamont said with an increase in goods smuggled across borders in the region it was of increasing importance for governments to work together, harmonising border procedures and
taking a holistic approach to the problem. “Stakeholder engagement and involvement as well as enforcement and intelligence sharing are vital to address illicit trade,” he said.
CAPTION: In South Africa approximately three in-market search and detention or seizure operations are carried out daily in the fight against the proliferation of counterfeit goods. – Michael Lamont
