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 Fighting the Battle of Counterfeit UL Marks
An estimated $500 billion (USD) of counterfeit products are sold each year worldwide — $200 billion in the United States alone. Counterfeit products include such common, everyday products as power strips and extension cords. As counterfeit UL Marks can directly affect the brands of UL’s customer companies, UL works closely with customers and retailers in fighting counterfeiting.
Although less than one-tenth of one percent of the products bearing the UL Mark are among products that are counterfeited, from the onset, UL has maintained a zero tolerance policy on counterfeit UL Marks. If products are discovered bearing counterfeit UL Marks, they will be seized and ultimately destroyed, so that they will not enter the stream of commerce or be shipped to another country.
“Our customers embrace UL’s anti-counterfeiting efforts,” said Brian Monks, UL director of anti-counterfeiting operations. “They see the value of it in protecting their reputation and brand. They want to do business on an equal playing field — and counterfeiters don’t. UL will work tirelessly to make sure that they do.”
Partnering with U.S. Customs
Since the launch of UL’s anti-counterfeiting program in 1995, UL has assisted U.S. Customs with more than 950 seizures of counterfeit products with a U.S. value in excess of $120 million (USD). To do this, UL has worked with customs officials throughout the country to assist them in verifying a UL label’s legitimacy through:
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training seminars, |
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reference materials and guidebook explaining the security features built into UL labels and
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access to an information hotline.
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UL’s anti-counterfeiting efforts have deliberately focused on low-priced, high-volume products, such as night-lights, power strips and extension cords, which are particularly vulnerable to counterfeiting.
However, importers of those counterfeited products would be the greatest loser. Once the counterfeited products have been detected by the Customs, the importers have to suffer the loss of the shipment and in some cases heavy fines.
UL works primarily with U.S. Customs officials at 65 U.S. ports where UL-Marked products are likely to enter the country. “This partnership has been phenomenal,” Monks said.
Program includes international efforts
The program includes:
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proactively creating barriers to counterfeiting (such as the use of holographic labels);
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operating a hotline to UL Inspection Centers to enable customs inspectors and others to report suspicious shipments of products; and
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engaging in global outreach to coordinate U.S. efforts with those of other countries
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While the focus of UL’s efforts has traditionally been on stopping goods from entering the U.S. market, efforts are under way to strengthen capabilities globally, especially in regions where counterfeiting originates.
Over the last 18 months, UL has been working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Customs to fight counterfeit products.
Since many of the products bearing counterfeit UL Marks are being exported from China, UL has been working with the Chinese government to combat such counterfeiting. Recently, discussions on even closer cooperation have been made with Chinese governmental agencies — General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ),China National Certification & Accreditation (CNCA) and State Administration of Industrial Commerce (SAIC).
“UL can’t solve the counterfeiting problem by itself. It takes many organizations and many individuals working together. So, UL is trying to get as many companies and associations as possible to join us in this battle,” Monks concluded.
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