The Consumer Protection, Competition, and Fraud Repression Directorate-General (CCF) – in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance (APISWA) and the Wine, Spirit and Beer Importers and Distributors Association (WSBIDA) – held a recent training course designed to fight the trade of counterfeit alcohol in Cambodia.

CCF officials claimed that counterfeit alcohol is imported, and none is produced in the Kingdom.

“The participants in the May 12 training course included all branch directors, their deputies and 120 investigators from CCF branches throughout the Kingdom,” said the CCF.

CCF directorate-general Phan Oun told The Post that the training provided additional knowledge to investigators so they would be capable of determining the difference between real and counterfeit products.

He explained that the training was conducted by specialists from S&O – a company acting as the intellectual property agent of many well-known companies around the world.

“The training emphasised the importance of cooperation between the private sector and law enforcement bodies in the fight against counterfeit products, in order to reduce challenges and complications in identifying crimes of this nature,” he said.

He noted that to date, the manufacture of counterfeit alcohol has not been reported within the Kingdom, but that the illegal importation of alcohol for the purpose of tax evasion and various intellectual property infringements have been uncovered.

“The counterfeit liquor trade takes many forms, such as the sale of illegally imported branded products and the use of improper packaging. We have yet to discover anyone who is refilling branded bottles with cheaper product, but there have been several cases of imported wine,” he said.

“The CCF will continue to work closely with the WSBIDA to further strengthen the capacity of officials to fight the trade of counterfeit alcohol,” he said.