The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation (ACEF) has joined a national coalition comprised of more than 20 majorindustries seeking legislation to make e-commerce platforms responsible for ensuring that vendors on their platformsdo not sell counterfeits products.

"Current U.S. laws and law enforcement's 'whack-a-mole' approach have proven to be no match for the sellers ofcounterfeit products on e-commerce platforms. It's time to join forces and use our collective efforts to bring about thechanges needed to shut down criminal access to the U.S. marketplace," said ACEF President John Albanese. "ACEFenthusiastically endorses the SHOP SAFE Act coalition's efforts and we pledge to inform and enlist the coin industry andnumismatic collector community's support for this important mission," Albanese added.

SHOP SAFE is an acronym for "Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakesin E-Commerce."

The Shop Safe Act has bipartisan support in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Itreceived a public hearing in the Senate during the 118th Congress. However, it did not receive a floor vote ineither chamber. Bipartisan sponsors have pledged to re-introduce bills in both chambers when the newCongress convenes in January 2025 and push to make the legislation become law in 2025.

Once enacted, the SHOP SAFE Act will require e-commerce platforms to engage in best practices for screening and vettingsellers and goods, address repeat counterfeiter sellers, and ensure that consumers have relevant information availableto them, or the e-commerce platform could be held liable for the sale of counterfeit and illicit products that harmconsumers.

The SHOP SAFE Act will be complementary to the INFORM Consumers Act that took effect on June 27, 2024. It requiresonline marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose certain information about "high-volume third-party sellers."Coalition leaders note that together, these laws will begin to stem the influx of illicit products and safeguard consumersfrom the alarming dangers of counterfeits that extend across industries.

Kari Kammel, Director and Senior Academic Specialist, Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection, atMichigan State University testified before a Senate subcommittee hearing Oct. 3., 2023, about the economicharm of counterfeit products.

Kammel noted: "The volume of counterfeits is staggering but also difficult to measure for a variety of reasons.

"First, itis an illicit activity that is often focused on deception.

"Second, the most accurate data we have is from seizure data. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection'sIntellectual Property Rights Seizure Statistics report for the 2021 fiscal year reported that CBP had 102,490seizures with an estimated manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of over $3.3 billion. The size of theproblem is often calculated based on seizure data, or takedown data, which does not fully reflect the universe ofcounterfeit goods.

"Third, data sharing between brands, platforms, law enforcement, and academia has always been a struggle.However, despite these limitations, estimates of counterfeiting profits globally by Global Financial Integritystate that it is financially the largest criminal enterprise in the world, approximately $923 billion to $1.13 trilliona year-a higher amount than either drugs($426-652 billion) or human trafficking ($150.2 billion). Financially,counterfeit goods impact national economies; counterfeit and pirated goods in international trade have beenestimated to amount to as much as USD464 billion in 2019, or 2.5% of world trade that year."

In addition to ACEF, the coalition is comprised of industry organizations such as the Alliance for AutomotiveInnovation, American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers(AHAM), Automotive Anti-Counterfeiting Council (A2C2), Communications Cable & Connectivity Association(CCCA), Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America(FDRA), Halloween & Costume Association, MEMA, Partnership for Safe Medicines, The Vehicle SuppliersAssociation, Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP), The ToyAssociation, and the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT).

For more information, see:
https://acefonline.org/