COUNTERING COUNTERFEITS

摘要

Latin America's robust economy and fascination with beauty has made it a very lucrative region for cosmetics and perfume companies. However corruption, weak border control and smuggling networks are helping to make the piracy of cosmetics and perfumes into a pervasive problem, causing major loss of revenue to both governments and companies alike. According to market research company Euromonitor International, between 2006 and 2011 annual sales of beauty and personal care products in Latin America shot up from $37.6bn to $74.5bn, with significant growth in every sub sector including colour cosmetics ($3.4bn to $6.9bn), fragrances ($5.5bn to $11.6bn) and premium cosmetics ($1.7bn to $3.5bn). On the downside, sales of counterfeit cosmetics and perfumes have skyrocketed as well.