National Board Against Counterfeiting has been set up in Hungary

National Board Against Counterfeiting has been set up in Hungary

Industry world-wide loses large amounts to counterfeiters, which losses not only affect the producers of genuine items, but they also involve social costs. Companies, as well as enforcement agencies, are becoming increasingly aware of the problems of counterfeiting. The lack of information sharing is often perceived to be one of the main obstacles in the fight against counterfeiters. In several countries anti-counterfeiting entities have been established with the participation of public bodies, NGOs and industry. Such national entities are for example the Comité National Anti-contrefaçon (CNAC) in France and the Intellectual Property Crime Group in the UK.

In line with the aforementioned the Hungarian government has adopted Government decision 1002/2008. (I. 25.) Korm. amending Government decision 1074/2007. (X. 1.) Korm. on the appointment and tasks of the government commissioner for the "New Order and Freedom" Programme by which a National Board Against Counterfeiting (NBAC) was established in Hungary. In the NBAC the full spectrum of enforcement and commercial interests are represented including the public administration bodies, public prosecutors, police and customs authorities, trademark and copyright associations, interest groups of commerce and industry, and, not least, the enterprises concerned by counterfeiting. The Government decision entered into force on 1 February 2008 and the Board held its first meeting on 3 March 2008.

The members of the Board:

Chairman: the government commissioner for the "New Order and Freedom" Programme

Vice-chairmen: the president of the Hungarian Patent Office and the state secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement

Representatives of the following governmental institutions: Ministry of Economy and Transport, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Employment and Social Affaires, Ministry of Education and Culture, National Office for Consumer Protection, Directorate General of the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard, Headquarters of the National Police

Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, Foundation for the Copyright Protection of Audiovisual Works (ASVA), Business Software Alliance Hungary, Hungarian Association for IT Companies, Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, Hungarian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property and Copyright, Hungarian Trademark Association, Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialist, ProArt Association for the Protection of Copyright, National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers

The main activities of the NBAC include, inter alia, the elaboration and the coordination of carrying out of a National Anti-counterfeiting Strategy, the coordination of the activities of the participating public bodies, NGOs and enterprises, support training for the staff of the enforcement agencies, the raising of consumer awareness through different programmes and campaigns.

On the first meeting the Board approved its statutes and discussed the basic principles of the National Anti-counterfeiting Strategy which shall be submitted to the government until 30 June 2008 in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned Government decision.