ECONOMY
'Piffling' amount of fakes in SA
Posted Mon, 11 Apr 2005
Fake goods coming into South Africa count for a "piffling" amount compared to the world's Gross Domestic Product, the SA Revenue Services (Sars) said on Thursday.
"What comes across our borders, and into our country, is a piffling amount — comparatively," Sars boss Pravin Gordhan said.
He said counterfeit trade internationally accounted for seven percent of the world's GDP, or €500-billion, at the moment.
"When we look at whether we are doing enough to fight counterfeit trade in South Africa, it's important that we keep the bigger picture in mind.
"It's important that ... brand holders ... do their pricing in a way in which they make counterfeit trading unproductive and unprofitable," he told a consumer gathering in Kempton Park.
"What we are having is a discernible drop in the nature and frequency of the activity," the commissioner said.
The meeting was organised by the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa.
The globalisation of trade and crime made Sars'
task much more difficult, forcing the institution to be creative in fighting the problem.
The changing trade environment internationally, including China's dominance of the sector, increased the problem.
Gordhan said the business community, the state and labour should help fight smuggling and tax evasion.
All these groups should work together to ensure they create a culture of compliance in South Africa, he said.
In that way, the groups would not be "chasing each other's tails".
"There is no end to criminality, and there is no final solution to criminality.
"The answer is how each of us, and society in general, decides that we have had enough of this nonsense," he said.
Sapa
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