The US and China have signed an agreement to jointly tackle intellectual property infringement.
Bruce Foucart, director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, and Chen Xudong, director general of the General Administration of China Customs, signed an IP rights addendum, which builds on the agreement they drafted in 2011.
Both countries will share information on infringed trademarks, known manufacturers and shippers, container numbers and dates of import and export.
The agreement will help China and the US combat infringement by tracking such violations and sharing information concerning the illicit trafficking of counterfeit trademarked merchandise.
Under the new agreement, US Homeland Security Investigations officials in Beijing have successfully teamed up with the GACC to complete operations targeting the illegal trafficking of counterfeit apparel and pharmaceuticals.
Foucart said: “Through this partnership with Chinese customs officials, we’ll be able to exchange ideas and implement best practices that could ultimately lead to the dismantling of transnational criminal organisations.”