Counterfeit goods a major concern in PNG

Papua New Guinea is struggling to address the issue of counterfeit goods being brought into the country through the borders and also protect the local manufacturers who have their products duplicated.

Border trade monitoring agencies like PNG Customs Service have been trying their best to address this issue amid resource constraints and human resource limitations.

But Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill said in his statement on FM100 Talk Back Show this week that these issues were ongoing and now needed to be corrected.

He said that the Government was looking into it and will certainly look at how the agencies involved can best stop these illegal importing of goods coming through some of the borders.

Callers to the Talk Back Show raised concerns about counterfeit goods smuggled through borders like Vanimo, Western Province and Bougainville while other reports also stated that many local manufacturers are complaining about their goods being duplicated and sold cheaply on the streets.

Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill said that the Border Development Authority and responsible agencies will look into the issue seriously.

"Yes, certainly counterfeit goods that are coming into the country are a concern,” Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill said. "We need to upgrade our border security, that’s why we developed this Border Development Authority.

"Some of the issues that are ongoing there need to be corrected and we will certainly look into it and certainly look at how we can best stop these illegal importing of goods that are coming through some of the borders that we have," he said. Responsible Government agencies yesterday detailed that there were many issues pertaining to that effect.

They said that the issue of quality control was also a concern that they were now seriously addressing. They added that there was also a whole range of problems and matters linked to that subject that needed a whole Government approach.

Prime Ministers Media Unit/Photo credit. primeminister.gov.pg