The Auto Care Association commends the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for its results of the 2017 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets Report and its decision to re-list Alibaba’s Taobao platform as a notorious market.
The report, released on Friday, Jan. 12, identifies 43 online and physical markets around the world that engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. Among other measures, USTR calls on Alibaba to consider banning widely-counterfeited products such as brake pads and other automotive parts that are not ordinarily sold on consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplaces. Additionally, USTR calls on Alibaba to develop more effective tools to address concerns of U.S. businesses that find infringing versions of their products on Taobao.
“Counterfeit auto parts represent a significant danger to the safety and welfare of the general public, and also pose a significant economic threat to our industry,” said Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care Association. “We thank the USTR for its tremendous efforts and the strong action plan outlined in the report to address rights holders’ concerns.”
The Auto Care Association submitted comments last October in response to member complaints regarding the proliferation of online supply chains based in China that allow the online distribution of counterfeit parts. In its letter, the Auto Care Association identified Alibaba and its family of e-commerce platforms including Taobao and AliExpress as notorious markets that facilitate the sale of counterfeit auto parts.
