The last few months have brought to centre stage issues of copyrights, trademarks, brand names, piracy, and quality of goods on the Zambian market.
Calls for the enactment of an Anti-Counterfeiting Act have been made and discussions between Government and various private sector institutions are ongoing in respect to this issue.
The Merriam-Webster On line dictionary also defines Piracy as ‘the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright’
It has been highlighted that piracy continues to rob innovators and investors of income legitimately due to them. Worldwide, trademarks and branding has been the mechanism for containing and linking the marketing efforts of a product to its inventors or producers thereby translating the longtime investment into sustainable financial returns.
Countries such as Kenya have taken the initiative to put in place an Anti-Counterfeiting Act to mainly protect their domestic industries. It must be acknowledged however, that there are many instances where re-packaging and re-documenting that amount to ‘pirating’, are still practiced in the COMESA Free Trade Area with special focus on ‘export’ goods. Many countries in Africa import bulk products and distribute in smaller quantities under the label ‘product of … such and such country’. This problem is also challenging the SADC as they try to establish a Free Trade Area in the southern tip of the African continent.
Across the Atlantic in South America, some countries have argued that if a ‘patented’ product was of national importance to a particular nation, then the commercial rights should be overridden by the larger public good and that product should be allowed to be reproduced with or without the consent of the patent holder. In effect, this decision legalizes within a domestic economy, the counterfeiting of the product. A typical example is that of HIV ARV’s that became so expensive to the average citizen that the Government of the day decided to exercise its sovereign right to manufacture patented formulas for the treatment of its own people. The debate on commercial patented rights versus the moral ethical rights of people’s access to products that are ‘life saving’ is ongoing even at the World Trade Organization such that ‘national interests’ are now being taken on board in trade rules, regulations, agreements and protocols. This provides some legal waivers to ‘piracy’ in very special circumstances.
At the global level debate is going on in respect to the ownership of intellectual property rights for discoveries and development of products, processes and formulas that emerge from educational institutions. Should the techniques for Genetically Modified Organisms be universally owned because they are developed in Universities or should commercial institutions immediately patent and own them because of the funding that they provide to institutions of higher learning? The last four decades have seen American companies’ scrambling to the patents office to patent GMO techniques as soon as they are established by various Universities. Is this morally and ethically right? The world continues to struggle with the debate of commercial and business rights versus the people’s rights and one cannot expect a consensus in the near future as the two sides have different interests. One side is driven by profit whilst the other side is driven by responsibility.
It is therefore very disturbing when we see that businesses are engaging themselves in producing counterfeit products in the pharmaceutical sector and marketing these fake products in the Zambian market. When customers buy a brand name they expect to get the genuine product made to a specific quality and design. This phenomenon must be stopped by the relevant authorities such as the Zambia Bureau of Standards, the Poisons Board, and the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency in coloration with the Zambia Police Service to protect the safety of the public. Counterfeited products unlike ‘similar’ products cannot be easily traced to the producers therefore leaving all consumers at the mercy of trial and error with no recourse for defective or damaged consignments.
At a more life threatening level, the pharmaceuticals and medicines industry in Africa is worth over USD20 billion per year. At least 20 percent of this industry is made up of counterfeit or sub standard products. Many people are dying due to these substandard medicines and Zambia cannot afford to stand by and watch innocent people perish for no good reason.
COMESA and SADC are challenged to look into counterfeiting and piracy as trade protocols and agreements are finalized. The success of regional integration will largely depend on how practical we can be in addressing the issues of equity and public safety within the region. Short changing the process will not bring the desired results as we will continue to bicker and quarrel at the expense of productivity, wealth creation, higher standards of living, and more jobs for our people.
It is evident that counterfeiting industry in Zambia has criminal elements as shown by the firearms discovered by the Police during their raids of targeted premises. It is clear that the Police recognize the dangers to human health that counterfeit pharmaceuticals pose. It is now the responsibility of all Government agencies and the general public to support the Police in bringing all culprits to book in an effort to save our own lives.
Calls for the enactment of an Anti-Counterfeiting Act have been made and discussions between Government and various private sector institutions are ongoing in respect to this issue.
The Merriam-Webster On line dictionary also defines Piracy as ‘the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright’
It has been highlighted that piracy continues to rob innovators and investors of income legitimately due to them. Worldwide, trademarks and branding has been the mechanism for containing and linking the marketing efforts of a product to its inventors or producers thereby translating the longtime investment into sustainable financial returns.
Countries such as Kenya have taken the initiative to put in place an Anti-Counterfeiting Act to mainly protect their domestic industries. It must be acknowledged however, that there are many instances where re-packaging and re-documenting that amount to ‘pirating’, are still practiced in the COMESA Free Trade Area with special focus on ‘export’ goods. Many countries in Africa import bulk products and distribute in smaller quantities under the label ‘product of … such and such country’. This problem is also challenging the SADC as they try to establish a Free Trade Area in the southern tip of the African continent.
Across the Atlantic in South America, some countries have argued that if a ‘patented’ product was of national importance to a particular nation, then the commercial rights should be overridden by the larger public good and that product should be allowed to be reproduced with or without the consent of the patent holder. In effect, this decision legalizes within a domestic economy, the counterfeiting of the product. A typical example is that of HIV ARV’s that became so expensive to the average citizen that the Government of the day decided to exercise its sovereign right to manufacture patented formulas for the treatment of its own people. The debate on commercial patented rights versus the moral ethical rights of people’s access to products that are ‘life saving’ is ongoing even at the World Trade Organization such that ‘national interests’ are now being taken on board in trade rules, regulations, agreements and protocols. This provides some legal waivers to ‘piracy’ in very special circumstances.
At the global level debate is going on in respect to the ownership of intellectual property rights for discoveries and development of products, processes and formulas that emerge from educational institutions. Should the techniques for Genetically Modified Organisms be universally owned because they are developed in Universities or should commercial institutions immediately patent and own them because of the funding that they provide to institutions of higher learning? The last four decades have seen American companies’ scrambling to the patents office to patent GMO techniques as soon as they are established by various Universities. Is this morally and ethically right? The world continues to struggle with the debate of commercial and business rights versus the people’s rights and one cannot expect a consensus in the near future as the two sides have different interests. One side is driven by profit whilst the other side is driven by responsibility.
It is therefore very disturbing when we see that businesses are engaging themselves in producing counterfeit products in the pharmaceutical sector and marketing these fake products in the Zambian market. When customers buy a brand name they expect to get the genuine product made to a specific quality and design. This phenomenon must be stopped by the relevant authorities such as the Zambia Bureau of Standards, the Poisons Board, and the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency in coloration with the Zambia Police Service to protect the safety of the public. Counterfeited products unlike ‘similar’ products cannot be easily traced to the producers therefore leaving all consumers at the mercy of trial and error with no recourse for defective or damaged consignments.
At a more life threatening level, the pharmaceuticals and medicines industry in Africa is worth over USD20 billion per year. At least 20 percent of this industry is made up of counterfeit or sub standard products. Many people are dying due to these substandard medicines and Zambia cannot afford to stand by and watch innocent people perish for no good reason.
COMESA and SADC are challenged to look into counterfeiting and piracy as trade protocols and agreements are finalized. The success of regional integration will largely depend on how practical we can be in addressing the issues of equity and public safety within the region. Short changing the process will not bring the desired results as we will continue to bicker and quarrel at the expense of productivity, wealth creation, higher standards of living, and more jobs for our people.
It is evident that counterfeiting industry in Zambia has criminal elements as shown by the firearms discovered by the Police during their raids of targeted premises. It is clear that the Police recognize the dangers to human health that counterfeit pharmaceuticals pose. It is now the responsibility of all Government agencies and the general public to support the Police in bringing all culprits to book in an effort to save our own lives.
Published 15th July, 2008
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