On 11 October 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) announced that at the invitation of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) it had participated remotely in the 8th edition of MASCRADE (the Movement Against Smuggled and Counterfeit Trade) entitled “Unleashing the Power of Consumers in the fight against Smuggling and Counterfeiting” held on 22 and 23 September, in New Delhi, India.
In his inaugural speech the former Vice President of India, stated “the fight against illicit trade has to be taken as a mission, with passion for the sake of the nation, and then the real change will come”.
It was stressed that “Customs’ priority is to maintain the resilience of the supply chain, especially during challenging times. “It is our duty to protect the society from illicit trafficking, counterfeiting and piracy”.
Against this backdrop, the WCO reiterated the importance of the cooperation among all stakeholders involved in international trade, including international organisations and the private sector. It went on to present recent WCO activities, including enforcement operations, and highlighted the role played by the WCO’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Customs Enforcement Network Communication Platform (CENcomm) Group in allowing the exchange of intelligence information in real-time between Customs officials via secure channels.