EFTTA joins battle against counterfeiters

EFTTA has stepped in to help a member company in its battle against counterfeiters.

Following the exclusive story that appeared in November’s Angling International about the problems being faced by Sportsystem and its Myrans brand, the company’s Managing Director, Bjorn Johansson Elmervik, revealed that he has received support from his country’s tackle trade association, SPOF Pole, and EFTTA.

He said the article had highlighted the ‘horrible problem’ of counterfeit fishing tackle coming out of China and the need to act.

“The article did a good job in raising the profile of the problem and I have been heartened by the support I have received from other companies, as well as SPOF Pole and EFTTA,” said Elmervik.

EFTTA discussed the situation at its Board meeting in Vienna in November. Board member Per Westerlund, Managing Director of fishing tackle wholesaler and manufacturer Bios AB, said that EFTTA was looking to make as much information as possible available to companies on how to protect their interests.

He added: “We are also looking at how other industries – like the toy trade – protect their intellectual Property (IP) rights. We want to see if there is anything that we can learn from them.

“Bios has been indirectly affected when fake lures from brands that we represent have made available for sale on the internet. It is not so much the value of what is being sold, but the intention to sell something fake.

“A consumer buys a certain product because he feels it will do a good job for him. When it does not perform up to expectations because it is fake then there is a problem whatever the value of the product.”

Elmervik said that SPOF Pole has a meeting planned this month at which the police and a top Stockholm lawyer – and expert in the field of copyright infringement – will be looking at ways to combat the growing problem.

The postal service in Sweden is working with police and turning over any suspicious packages from China. If they contain counterfeit items, they are being destroyed.

Elmervik added that he was sure that he now knew where the factory making counterfeit lures was located in China and had written to the Chinese Embassy asking for any help they could provide in stemming the flow of illegal products.

He said that a recent search on the internet had revealed around 12,000 lures for sale – up to 50% of which he believed were fake. Counterfeit brands included Myrans, Blue Fox and Power Pro.

He said: “We will be looking to see what we can do to stop companies putting counterfeit lures on their websites. Following the destruction by police of the counterfeit lures a lot of customers in Sweden will not have received their goods. They will be wanting their money back and that will put pressure on these sites.”