Little is being done to educate consumers about the impact of counterfeiting and the consequences of buying counterfeit goods. The public are largely unaware of the more damaging and sinister effects of counterfeiting, in particular:

• The involvement of organised crime
• Health and safety issues
• Job losses
• Loss of tax revenue by governments
• Social costs through the exploitation of workers producing counterfeits

To assist the education process, CIB has assembled its own collection of counterfeits and set up the International Exhibition of Counterfeiting (IEC) in 1998. The exhibition also serves as an educational tool for governments, judiciaries and law enforcement. It is available to display at conferences, museums and anti-counterfeiting events throughout the world.

Our collection of counterfeit exhibits gathers together a whole range of fake goods; from those commonly sold by street vendors, such as sunglasses and perfumes through to car parts, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and electrical goods. Recent additions to the exhibits include red pepper powder mixed with brick dust, and coffee powder prepared in a wood processing plant.