Stakeholders discuss how to boost enforcement of key intellectual property rights in the country |15 October 2022
The meeting in progress
Key local stakeholders handling Intellectual Property Rights met this week to address issues concerning certain types of counterfeit goods that are entering the country as well as protection of registered intellectual property rights in Seychelles.
It was pointed out that while Seychelles has laws which protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) nationally, mainly the Industrial Property Act 2014, the Copyright Act of 2014 and S.I 42 of 2014 of the Customs Management Regulations, nonetheless, implementation and enforcement remain a challenge and as a consequence there exists an urgency to enhance existing frameworks and capacity, to tackle the issue of counterfeit goods, in particular for goods that may carry risks to the health and safety of consumers.
The meeting acknowledged the need to:
- identify key stakeholders to assist with further implementation of protecting IPRs;
- draft an Action Plan on the way forward in relation to the sensitisation on IPRs implementation in Seychelles; and
- identify technical assistance needs for identification of counterfeit goods at the border by Custom Division.
- start a discussion nationally on how as a country we address this issue of counterfeit goods.
The stakeholders present at the meeting were Francis Lebon, principal secretary (PS) in the Trade department; Cecile Kalebi, PS in the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts; Wendy Pierre, Registrar General of the Registration Division; Paul Barrack, Commissioner of Customs; as well as representatives from the Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA), the Seychelles Authors and Composers Society (SACS) and staff of the Trade department and Registration Division.
The meeting took place at the Trade department at Maison Esplanade on Thursday this week.
Press release from the Ministry of Finance, National Planning & Trade