Stepping Up At The Border

In recent years Canada has faced increasing pressure to take firmer action against those who traffic in counterfeit goods and, thereby, to ameliorate Canada's reputation as a weak enforcer in cases of blatant infringement of copyright and trademark rights. According to data released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the total retail value of seizures of infringing goods increased from approximately C$7.7 million in 2005 to C$67.5 million in 2011. The number fell again in 2012 to C$38.1 million; however, this drop was attributed to federal resources being moved to other priority cases, which suggests that the amount of money being made from the sale of counterfeit goods within the country is much higher. The types of commodity that have been seized include apparel and footwear, copyrighted works, consumer electronics, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, toys and electrical products. As is often noted in regard to this issue, the trade of these counterfeit commodities not only harms commercial interests, but also presents certain health and safety risks.

In its 2009 Special 301 Report, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) placed Canada on its priority watch list of countries with particularly poor IP rights enforcement (along with Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Venezuela), where it remained until 2012. According to the report: "Canada remains on the Priority Watch List in 2012, subject to review if Canada enacts long-awaited copyright legislation... The United States also continues to urge Canada to strengthen its border enforcement efforts, including by providing customs officials with ex officio authority to take action against the importation, exportation, and transshipment of pirated or counterfeit goods."

Canada's increasingly accepted reputation as a region of relative safety for counterfeiters and online pirates has not escaped the attention of the current government. On June 29 2012 it passed the Copyright Modernisation Act, which amended the Copyright Act and provided for more effective rights protection in the digital era. The government is well on the way to passing a second bill - Bill C-8, or the Combating Counterfeit Products Act. This bill contains a number of provisions aimed at broadening the abilities of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) - in conjunction with rights holders - to stop counterfeit goods before they enter the...