Share information on counterfeit goods with enforcement agencies: CBIC chief to industry

CBIC Chief Vivek Chaturvedi on Thursday urged businesses to share information about counterfeit goods with enforcement agencies to help identify suspicious consignments and curb illicit supply chains.

Chaturvedi said counterfeit products such as cigarettes, cosmetics and drugs pose significant risks to consumer health and safety, while proceeds from their sale are often used to fund organised crime and terrorism.

He also stressed the need to raise consumer awareness about the risks associated with counterfeit products.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is strengthening the use of non-intrusive inspection technologies, data analytics, risk management systems, automated targeting and intelligence-led interventions to identify high-risk consignments more precisely, while ensuring legitimate trade faces minimal intervention, he said.

"Private sector has a role to strengthen the supply chain. Businesses possess invaluable intelligence about their own products, distribution networks, market patterns... Greater information sharing within the industry and enforcement agencies such as the customs can help in the identification of suspicious consignments, emerging routes and new modus operandi," Chaturvedi said at Ficci-CASCADE's 'MASCRADE 2026'.

Counterfeit products now range from toys and electronics to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, often being sold without undergoing Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) quality checks, he said.

Their impact extends beyond losses suffered by legitimate brand owners, Chaturvedi said, noting that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Customs have made significant seizures of counterfeit goods in recent years.

Businesses also face unfair competition from cheaper counterfeit and grey-market goods that evade duties, he said.

Chaturvedi said Customs inspections at borders were not intended to slow down commerce but to make the movement of legitimate trade faster, safer and more predictable.

Counterfeit goods also create parallel supply chains by using legitimate logistics infrastructure, prompting Customs to increasingly rely on technology for enforcement, he said.

"Our objective is to disrupt the illicit supply chains. Nature of smuggling is changing with change of time. Concealment is being complemented by misdeclaration, layering of supply chains, misuse of legitimate trade channels, courier and e-commerce networks, and digital modes of communications and payment," the CBIC chief said.