IP/C/W/603
17 October 2014
(14-5959)  Page: 1/5
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English
 
 TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 
WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION (WCO) 
At its meeting of 11 June 2014, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.   
 The present document reproduces the information which has been received from the World 
Customs Organization (WCO) by means of a communication dated 7 October 2014. 
 Communications from other intergovernmental organi zations will be circulated as addenda to this 
document. 
 
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1  OVERVIEW OF WCO'S ACTIVITIES AND TOOLS RELEVANT TO THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
Determined to protect consumers' health and safety, the WCO continues to combat counterfeiting 
and piracy through the following activities and tools.  
1.1  Large-scale Operations  
1.  The WCO organises simultaneous enforcement activities with multiple Customs Administrations. 
The Operations intend to gauge the scale of global counterfeiting whilst providing participating Customs officers with hands-on experience. In 2013 WCO organised two large-scale operations: 
Operation Biyela in Africa and Operation 'Tigre 3' in Latin America. The impact of the substantial 
level of intervention in a short space of time sends a strong message both to offenders and the general public.  
1.2  National/regional seminars 
2.  The WCO delivers extensive capacity-building activities mainly in the form of 
legislative/operational training seminars. In 2013, the WCO conducted training seminars for 
officers of 75 member Administrations.  
1.3  Interface Public-Members (IPM) 3.  Since its launch in 2010, IPM has supported the operational activities of frontline Customs 
officers in detecting counterfeit products. In 2014,  the IPM mobile application will be introduced 
and is expected to further assist officers on the ground.  
1.4  Counterfeit and Piracy Group Meeting 4.  The biannual WCO Counterfeiting and Piracy Group (CAP) meetings provide a platform for 
Customs and related law enforcement agencies to  exchange information, experiences and best 
practices on combating counterfeiting and piracy.  IP/C/W/603 
 
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1.5  E-learning module 
5.  Using the WCO's Internet-based E-learning module, Customs officers can acquire practical 
knowledge on border enforcement related to IP R. They can train themselves on IP-related 
agreements such as the TRIPS Agreement and practical risk-based document targeting. 
2  LARGE SCALE OPERATIONS  2.1  Making IPR the Priority 
6.  Operations are key to the WCO's activities in the IPR sector, especially for products raising 
health and safety concerns. The objective is to join efforts to combat counterfeiting and piracy more effectively through enhanced enforcement methods and best practices. Operations are also 
an opportunity to use WCO tools such as 
CENcomm, a secure communication tool for the exchange of information, and IPM, an online 
database of product information designed to help 
Customs officers distinguish between fake and genuine goods, and to potentially detect 
smuggling trends through the analysis of results.  
7.  Operation Biyela was a joint enforcement 
Operation led by 23 African countries. Through its focus on fake medicines and other dangerous 
counterfeit products, Operation Biyela aimed at 
protecting consumer health and safety. 
2.2  Encirclement 
8.  The Operation was named Biyela from the 
Zulu word meaning 'encirclement' to reflect the geographical coverage of the operation along the 
coasts of Africa. The Operation was rolled out in 
two phases. Phase one consisted of a pre-Operation 3-day workshop in Lomé, Togo. During th is time, a selected number of Customs officers 
from all participating countries were provided with in-depth training techniques. Phase two, the 
actual Operation, took place over 10 days in April 2013 in the main seaports of participating 
countries, with the previously trained Customs of ficers and their assigned WCO IPR-accredited 
expert. 
2.3  1.1 Billion  
9.  Following the 10-day Operation, participating Customs Administrations intercepted 
1,135,302,883 pieces of illicit products. Pharmaceutical products accounted for around 49%, and 
electronic appliances for about 40% of the total amount of intercepted goods. These two 
categories of goods, with a total of 1,016,366,373 units intercepted, account for about 89% of the total amount intercepted, while the remaining 11% are divided into 14 categories of products.  
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  Seizures by quantity 
 
Categories of Products  Quantity (pieces)  
Pharmaceutical products  558,608,805 
Electronic appliances  457,757,568 
Cigarettes  50,270,000 
Foodstuff  31,095,792 
Transportation & spare parts  16,270,970 
Other  14,442,327 
Accessories  2,028,070 
Toiletries/cosmetics  1,944,601 
Mobile phones & accessories  1,156,041 
Textiles  642,262 
Watches  459,000 
Phonographic products  267,400 
Clothing  184,244 
Games & toys  134,184 
Footwear  38,789 
Computers & accessories  2,830 
Total 1,135,302,883 
 
 
 
Electric appliances intercepted 
in DRC Sweets intercepted in 
Togo Customs officers in action 
during the Operation 
3  INTERFACE PUBLIC-MEMBERS (IPM)  
3.1  Communication tool between Customs and Private 
10.  Since its launch in 2010, the WCO online anti-counterfeiting tool IPM has become a real 
communication hub between Customs officers on th e ground and the private sector by allowing 
them to exchange crucial information in real time in order to intercept counterfeit goods.  
3.2  80 Member Customs use the system 
11.  During 2013, IPM welcomed some 20 new Member countries thereby confirming its stronger 
international visibility and added value in the fight against counterfeiting. Increasingly attracting more countries, IPM now counts 81 Members and many  others regularly express their interest in 
implementing the system in their countries.  
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  3.3  IPM-Mobile 
12.  The increase in the number of Members can also be explained by the launch of the mobile 
application, scheduled for 2014. Field Customs officers will access IPM via their mobile devices and retrieve all relevant information contained in the database. Several new features have been added 
to the mobile version such as the possibility to send or receive alerts regarding the possible 
shipment of counterfeit goods and, when faced wi th suspicious merchandise, Customs officers can 
contact right holders immediately and upload photos of the products in question.  
13.  This new version also offers the possibility to use mobile devices to scan industry-standard 
GS1 barcodes found on millions of products, en abling Customs officers to search the product 
database in a more time-efficient manner. The unique product identifier embedded in the GS1 bar code will facilitate access to multiple databases providing trusted sources of product information.  
3.4  IPM-Connected 
14.  Furthermore, scanning the barcodes will enab le automatic connection to any authentication 
services linked to the product controlled. This new feature is known as IPM Connected  – a global 
network of security features providers (SFP) interfaced with IPM. To date, IPM counts 13 
Connected  solutions and this number is increasing steadily. With this growing network of SFP, the 
number of right holders to join IPM is also seeing a boost with over 700 brands currently in the 
system, covering a wide range of industry sectors from pharmaceutical, foodstuffs and pesticides, 
to fast-moving goods and luxury items.  
15.  For further information and latest news please visit the IPM website www.wcoipm.org  
 
  
  IP/C/W/603
 
- 5 - Technical Cooperation Activities in the TRIPS Area from 1 October 2013 to 30 September 2014 
 
 
Category From  To Year Location No. of 
countries Activity Other 
organization 
Operation 13-Nov 22-Nov 2013 Panama 14 Operation TIGRE 3.  A combination of 3-day training 
seminar and a week-long sub-regional operation 
targeting counterfeiting items.   
Sub-Regional 
Seminar 2-Dec 6-Dec 2013 Shanghai, China 26 Sub-Regional Operational Seminar on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy.    
Diagnostic 9-Dec 13-Dec 2013 Kingston,   
Jamaica 1 Diagnostic of the legislative, operational and structural 
aspects of IPR’ in the Jamaican Customs Agency   
Sub-Regional 
Seminar 9-Dec 13-Dec 2013 Tunis, Tunisia 5 Sub-Regional Operational Seminar on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy.    
National Seminar  13-Jan 17-Jan 2014 Guayaquil, Ecuador 1 National Operational Seminar on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy.   
Operation 19-Mar 28-Mar 2014 Sao Paulo, Brazil 7 Operation GOL 14. A combination of 3-day training 
seminar and a week-long sub-regional operation 
targeting counterfeit sports items. Operation was 
conducted in cooperation with FESI. FESI 
National Seminar 22-Apr 25-Apr 2014 Belgrade. Serbia 1 National Operational Seminar on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy.   
Operation 21-May 4-Jun 2014 Lomé , Togo 15 Operation BIYELA II. A combination of 3-day training 
seminar and a week-long sub-regional operation 
targeting merchandise that may jeopardize human 
health and safety.    
National Seminar 24-Jun 27-Jun 2014 Bangkok,  
Thailand 1 National Seminar on Combating Counterfeiting and 
Piracy   
National Seminar 8-Sep 12-Sep 2014 Tirana, Albania 1 National Seminar on Combating Counterfeiting and 
Piracy   
Customs 
Workshop 17-Sep 19-Sep 2014 Tbilisi, Georgia 5 Customs Workshop and Capacity Building Program - 
USPTO   
National Seminar 22-Sep 25-Sep 2014 Jakarta, Indonesia 1 National Operational Seminar on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
 
 
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