Consumers urged to go for value for money

The Customs Department's intellectual property rights enforcement officer George Agius said consumers should be encouraged to "love" authentic goods.

Consumers must be kept away from counterfeited products and be directed towards the "value for money" products, he said.

"Money makes the world go round and in a way the consumer makes the 'counterfeiting trade' go on," he said when he addressed the Customs World Summit in London on the theme Intellectual Property Rights and the Counterfeiting Phenomenon.

Knowingly or unintentionally the consumer buying counterfeit products would be helping the counterfeiter to achieve his main scope, Mr Agius said.