Counterfeiting's costly threat

An international anti-counterfeiting agency with "draconian powers" should be created to stamp out the world-wide trade in fake branded goods, according to a leading jeweller. Stuart Laing, a director of the international watch-making authority the Association Interprofessionnelle de la Haute Horlogerie (AIHH), said yesterday that the counterfeiting problem had grown to "enormous proportions" and was a major activity of crime cartels such as the Mafia and Chinese Triads.

Counterfeiting cost reputable manufacturers and dealers, put money into the hands of criminals who would use it for other activities such as drug deals, and damaged consumer confidence in the quality of goods, he said.

Mr Laing, who also heads Laing the Jeweller - the oldest chain of jewellers in Scotland - and Parkhouse and Wyatt of Southampton, went on: "The reason I am saying this is that the public should be made aware that their money is going into the pockets of very unsavoury types. This is an international trade, money raised from it could be used to finance major drug deals."