Fight to intensify on counterfeiters By Cui Ning (China Daily) Updated: 2004-04-30 08:59
The Supreme People's Procuratorate says it will
further step up efforts to crack down on fake and substandard food, drugs and
agricultural production materials.
It will also pay more attention to cases involving production or distribution
of faked famous brands and pirated books or discs.
The move is driven by the recent spat of infant deaths caused by sub-standard
milk powder.
Some 13 infants in Central China's Anhui Province died of malnutrition.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate will send supervisors next month to Anhui
and other provinces or autonomous regions where counterfeiting runs rampant and
threatens people's health and daily life, said deputy procurator-general Sun
Qian at a news conference Thursday in Beijing.
"We will supervise regional police to timely arrest criminals who make and
sell faked products, and those infringing on intellectual property rights," said
Sun.
"We will also intensify supervision to prevent and halt any cases where
criminals are fined to help them escape criminal responsibility," he said.
Local protectionism still exists in some areas. Regional administrative
departments only fine suspects instead of investigating their penal
responsibilities, said Sun. This weak crackdown has resulted in more rampant
counterfeiting activities.
Moreover, some bribed governmental officials even cover up or work with
counterfeiters. These officials act as a "protecting umbrella" for
counterfeiters, said Sun.
He called on regional procuratorate authorities to keep a close eye on
governmental officials who are intent on accepting bribes and shielding illegal
activities.
The current fight against counterfeiting and intellectual property
infringement has been ongoing for the past two years, said procuratorate
spokesman Zhang Zhongfang.
Last year, 531 criminals were arrested in 330 cases of intellectual property
rights violations, another 1,597 were arrested in 806 cases of making and
selling faked products, said Zhang.
