Law enforcement agencies came up with an initiative that could turn an ordinary trip into a store and into a market into an administrative offense or even a criminal act. The metropolitan police department considers it possible to think about introducing criminal liability for the acquisition of counterfeit goods. How exactly an ordinary buyer should personally identify fake products from hundreds of products is not explained.
A representative of the Moscow police department suggests thinking about introducing administrative and criminal liability for buyers of counterfeit products.
“We can use the positive experience of European countries and consider establishing criminal and administrative liability for the purchase of counterfeit goods,” said Alexander Melnikov, deputy head of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate, according to Interfax. The police chief noted that in several European countries the turnover of counterfeit products in recent years has decreased due to the establishment of responsibility not only for its sellers, but also for buyers.
Intimidation measure
In Italy, for example, indeed since 2005, administrative penalties have been applied to buyers of counterfeit products. In this country, the average fine for such an offense is € 10 thousand. There were precedents where tourists and citizens of the country were fined several thousand euros for buying cheap fake bags or sunglasses on the street.
In addition, when buying counterfeit goods, which may include medicines, toys, food, and even clothing, the buyer himself becomes affected by the dishonest actions of the manufacturer or seller, for example, hiding the origin of the product. Finally, the application of criminal liability presupposes at least the presence of intent in the actions of the buyer. Otherwise, the responsibility for authenticating the goods is automatically transferred to the buyer.
However, experts note the difficulty of applying this measure, given the large amounts of the fine. Violators, as a rule, were not always able to pay the police on the spot, so this measure is considered rather frightening. Recently, the issue of reducing the amount of fines has even been studied to make the punishment more effective.
In France, liability is provided for persons who have acquired abroad for personal use and have imported counterfeit products into the country. If such goods are discovered at customs, citizens are at least at risk of forfeiture and a fine, calculated on the basis of the value of genuine items. Even things that are directly on detainees may be subject to seizure. In the worst case, citizens may face a fine of € 300 thousand or a sentence of up to three years. A similar penalty is provided for theft.
Recognition difficulties
However, it is still unclear how exactly the authors of this initiative in Russia will be able to take into account, on the one hand, the need to combat the distribution of counterfeit goods, and on the other, the observance of the rights of bona fide buyers who do not have special examination tools or are not aware of the requirements when visiting trading enterprises presented to a particular product. Neither large retail chains, nor even smaller retail outlets, which work on the basis of legally issued licenses, are insured against counterfeiting.
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