UNICRI Reports on Counterfeiting and Organized Crime

The first report Counterfeiting, a global spread, a global threat, published by UNICRI in 2007, provides a global assessment of organized criminal involvement in counterfeiting. It presents a general overview of counterfeiting, supported by data and statistics, and contains an analysis of the consequences of the crime for human society. It highlights its economic and social impacts and the risks that certain counterfeit goods may cause to consumers’ health and safety.

The research also contains an extended analysis of organized crime’s involvement in counterfeiting activities, highlighting that they are a huge source of income and amongst the preferred outlets for money laundering schemes. The report presents a series of recommendations that may contribute towards improving the situation.

UNICRI was awarded a High Commendation at the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Awards in 2008 for the results obtained with this study and for the Institute’s efforts to render operative some of the proposed recommendations. The "GAC Award" is a worldwide competition held each year with a view towards nominating best public and private institutions/organisms involved in the fight against counterfeiting.

Upon decision n. 19/1 of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, UNICRI was mandated to update the above mentioned report (2007) and present the findings to the Commission at its twentieth session, in April 2011. The report Counterfeiting, a global spread, a global threat. An update was presented in April 2011 during the plenary session of the XX Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna.