Why Do People Buy Counterfeit Products?

Critics have pointed a finger at the unethical use of intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry claiming it is being used to set prices far above what those in third world countries can afford. Given that a good number of the raw material came from these regions, it is unethical to use intellectual property

As globalisation brings in new and various products, counterfeit goods also spread quickly. This has a negative influence on local retailers and trademark owners by taking away part of their local market share, taking advantage of the designs of a brand’s

Totally contrary to enthusiastic claims that fake handbags and other counterfeit goods are indistinguishable from the originals, in fact these knock-off products typically leave a lot to be desired. The real items are usually individually handmade from the best materials using only the most perfect stitching, while fakes are mass produced. In addition, the counterfeit industry is tied to the globalization of organized crime, so the money people spend on forgeries while being pleased at their savings ends up in the pocket of a thief at best, and the mob, terrorists, or drug cartels at worst. In short, even if cultural relativism is taken into consideration, it is difficult to say that counterfeiting actions are in any way going to improve the

For several industries in Asia, in particular pharmaceuticals, security issues include fake branded products and the substitution of goods with counterfeit or inferior quality replacements. Recent supply chain security initiatives are also designed to address security problems relating to the sale of counterfeit goods. In August of 2008, Hong Kong customs discovered 2.5m cigarettes in a container that was marked to contain other goods. If these items had not been identified as fake, they could have been sold as original brand goods, resulting in a substantial shortfall in excise income for the Hong Kong Government.

Economic: Globalization of the pharmaceutical industry is an exciting opportunity to have research and development done at cheaper prices in other countries. However, this could be a double edged sword for companies because it is easy for other countries, such as India, to produce generic versions of the drug in bulk.

Most countries will buy stolen merchandise knowingly, considering they are selfish and only think about improving their country. Many countries do not think about the losses of other countries. For example,if the United States loss something really important many people would want to fight to find their countries prize possession.As mentioned in “Bring Them Home,”Egypt’s invaluable burial mask was stolen and purchased at a museum in St.Louis.In modern time,people are jailed for receiving stolen merchandise;maybe some museums need to be shut down for not returning looted

exported about $27 million worth of asbestos products and Nearly 1.7 billion pounds of pesticides were exported from U.S. ports between 2001 and 2003. Nearly 28 million pounds of those pesticides were products forbidden in the U.S. (Peebles, 2013). One of the guidelines for selling these forbidden products to other countries is that disclosure is made to the foreign country that the product they are being sold is banned for sale in the US. By providing them with this information we are giving them the opportunity to decline the potentially dangerous product while making an unethical decision appear to be ethical for the good of the US by cashing in on unsafe items which carry hefty costs to safely dispose of.

Lockhart, K. (2016, November 25). The UK's online counterfeit economy - by numbers. Retrieved 27 November, 2016, from The Telegraph:

This casebook concentrates on the negative effects that the pharmaceutical industry’s trade and production policies have on third world nations suffering from disease epidemics. My position is that pharmaceutical companies are not concerned with the health benefits of their drugs, but rather with the market that their drugs generate. I illustrate this notion by describing the trade policies that pharmaceutical companies influence and the pharmaceutical companies’ production policies which concentrate on producing life-style drugs rather than drugs that cure life-threatening diseases.

With globalization of trade, it is simple for crimes between criminals in the U.S and other countries to occur. For example, drug dealers from one country sneaking illegal substances and other contraband into packages and ship it off to the U.S. Drug dealers think and plan this smuggling well, in attempts to successfully enter their product into the country to sell and distribute. In 2016, there were large shipments of narcotics coming from the Caribbean to areas of Southwestern U.S. The task force comprised of the U.S Coast Guard, The Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies. This task force managed to interfere with drug smuggling from the Bahamas and denied traffickers access to do so. (Homeland Security, 2016) There are also products

Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Mark McClellan gives a statement to the Senate committee on the cost of prescription drugs. In it he addresses the reasons for high drug costs and gives proposals on how the FDA should correct the marginal discrepancies. McClellan also spotlights drug counterfeiting, border states’ practices, and international drug prices. Admitting that even with the current laws it is difficult for the FDA to enforce them because of the complexities of the counterfeit operations.

Counterfeiting is quite the popular industry. That is, it seems as though almost everyone has a counterfeit good these days, or at least a friend or family member does. These unique booths are constantly crowded with people just dying to get the best deal on a knockoff item so they can show it off to their friends as the real thing. However, these people don’t realize the actions they evoke when they support these industries. Most counterfeit industries rely on child labor and human trafficking to

Interdiction – Using focused targeting and inspections to keep counterfeit and pirated goods out of U.S. supply chains, markets and streets.

People these days are very concerned with having the newest, most expensive items, whether it is clothes, electronics, toys or even food items; but if they stopped to take a second look at where these items came from, they might be concerned in a different way. One doesn’t generally think about the products that they buy, they see an iPod or a pair of Nikes and think “that’s pretty cool, I’d like to have that” but if they were to consider who made the item or what conditions they were under when making it they might have second thoughts about giving their money to that corporation. The fact is, a number of the products one comes across in his or her everyday life are produced using sweatshop labor. 218 million people around the world work as sweatshop labor (Reform Stalls in Chinese Factories.), they work long hours for abusive mangers and are paid only pennies, the owners of the factories often violate numerous health code and safety laws and have little regard for the lives they ruin; it’s no surprise that people will cut corners and do things on the cheap, but

First, culturally people spend money foolishly because we've been brainwashed, to believe we need material things or to keep up with the ‘Jones’. However, society’s greed places their desires for wants and needs, which is the biggest problem in world. Truthfully, the world is set as a melting pot for opportunity and wealth. However, while people are buying there are people dying, living and working in poor conditions, or enslaved for cheap labor, in third world countries to create products for high sale. “Let’s not forget the famous line, “Made in China “made press as the export driven-economical country” (Pringle, 2013). For example, the product Nike gym shoes, created in China a third world country using cheap labor, while culturally peer