DATE: THURSDAY, 24^TH JUNE 2021

THEME: SAY NO TO COUNTERFEITS AND RELATED FORMS OF ILLICIT TRADE FOR THE HEALTH & SAFETY OF KENYANS!

The World Anti-Counterfeit Day (WACD) is commemorated by Intellectual Property (IP) enforcement agencies all over the world in the month of June. WACD was initiated in 1998 by the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG) to facilitate information exchange and sharing of best practices in raising awareness against trade in counterfeit products. Kenya through ACA is one of the few African countries who are members. Intellectual Property (IP) enforcement agencies participate in various joint enforcement and awareness activities to solve international IP rights enforcement challenges. Illicit trade owes its existence and growth to the prevailing economic market dynamics with unscrupulous traders on the supply side and consumers who are deceived with cheap seemingly genuine products. Illicit trade continues to be an impediment to business growth and consumer well-being in Kenya.

The National Baseline Survey on counterfeit and other forms of illicit trade conducted by ACA reported that the total size of illicit trade in 2018 in Kenya was Kshs 826 billion. In support of the Universal Health Care Agenda of the National big 4 Agenda; the Authority in collaboration with its multi-agency anti-illicit trade partners seized counterfeit products that may pose a risk to the health and safety of the people- valued at approximately Kshs 20 million. These illicit products included face masks, hand sanitizers, edible oils, meat, detergents, drugs, cosmetics and oral care. The Covid‑19 pandemic imposed lockdowns and restriction of movement resulted in the rise of online shopping further increasing the sale of counterfeit and illicit products. Online sales have made counterfeiting harder to detect as the consumers are unable to interact and interrogate products before purchase.

The Authority has commemorated this event yearly since 2011, mainly to highlight its’ efforts and milestones in the fight against trade in counterfeit products.  This year, the GACG commemorated the WACD 2021 on 8^th June 2021; the Authority (ACA) commemorates this important event on Thursday, 24^th June 2021 with a hybrid sensitization forum at the College of Insurance - South C, Nairobi County and that will be running online. The forum features our Multi-Agency Anti-Illicit Trade Outreach (MAAITO) Partners, representatives from the Nairobi County National and County Government and IP experts from the Private Sector.

Participants can follow proceedings live on TV47 or via Zoom. Click on the link to register for the zoom webinar.