The demand for counterfeit products in Fiji is driven by the high prices of genuine or branded products which are beyond the reach of many consumers.
This was highlighted by the CEO of the Consumer Council of Fiji, Premila Kumar while making submissions on their 2016 Annual Report before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Affairs.
When responding to a question by the Committee on what the Council has done to rectify the issue of counterfeit goods coming into the country and how the consumers benefitting from this, Kumar says unfortunately, there are limited standards on the goods that are imported into Fiji.
She also highlighted that the Council has for many years lobbied for the improvement of standards through appropriate reforms in existing standards bodies to enable them to be effective in standards‑making, quality control and regulation adding that in the absence of mandatory standards, it is quite easy to import counterfeit goods to meet the demands of consumers.
Kumar says the Consumer Council of Fiji also monitors the market through surveillance visit and notifies the relevant authorities on any counterfeit goods that are unsafe and awareness is also created on how to identify counterfeit products.
