Foreword

Trade in counterfeit goods is a longstanding -- and growing -- worldwide socio-economic risk that threatens effective public governance, efficient business, and the well-being of consumers.

One of the areas that have garnered increased attention in recent years has been the use by counterfeiters and other illicit traders of e-commerce to cloak their activities. Trading platforms such as Amazon, eBay have been instrumental in promoting growth in e-commerce, but they can also be abused by illicit trade networks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these problems, as people turn to e-commerce during lockdowns and shop closures. Governments and industries have recognised these problems and are addressing them in various ways, including by providing more transparency, streamlining procedures, and facilitating co-operation among e-commerce platforms, right holders and governments.

This study provides an overview of these government- and industry-specific measures to address the abuse of online platforms by counterfeiters. Given the global and borderless nature of e-commerce, such information is crucially needed, not only to better understand this threat and different approaches for tackling it, but also for co-ordinating effective governance responses.

This study was carried out under the auspices of the OECD’s Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade, which focuses on evidence-based research and advanced analytics to assist policy makers in mapping and understanding the vulnerabilities exploited by illicit trade.