ASPA advocates prioritising conscious consumerism in India

ASPA’s new governing body said, “There is an immediate need for India to priorities conscious consumerism to curb the leak of precious tax revenue for the betterment of the Indian economy.”

Manoj Kochar, Holoflex, has been voted as the president of ASPA. Ankit Gupta of Holostik India has been given the responsibility of vice-president. Luv Shriram, Shriram Veritech is the general secretary and treasurer. 

The new governing body members are Saurabh Agarwal, Avery Dennison; Vikas Jain, ACVISS Technologies; and ex-officio Nakul Pasricha, PharmaSecure. Co-opted governing body members are Gaurav Sathaye, United Speciality and Ranesh Bajaj, Vinsak.

Manoj Kochar, president, ASPA, said, “Counterfeiting has and continues to be a very serious hindrance that has been slowing down the growth of India’s economy. Unfortunately, neither of the stakeholders be it the government, industry associations, businesses or consumers give the matter the importance it deserves. Counterfeiting is divided into deceptive and non-deceptive markets. In simpler terms, some consumers buy a fake under the impression that it is an original (deceptive) and some consumers buy the product knowing that it is a fake (non-deceptive).” 

He added, “In a recent survey done by us, it was found that 31% of people willingly buy a fake product (ASPA Report to the Nation). This non-deceptive market fuels the counterfeit market and encourages criminals to produce and sell more such harmful and inferior fake products. It is extremely critical to nurture and motivate conscious consumerism plus active participation in the authentication process. Without inclusion of the consumers, it is impossible to fight against fakes.”

Ankit Gupta, vice-president, ASPA, “Circulation of counterfeit products does not only have financial but also social repercussions. It tarnishes the reputation of the country and reduces the faith of consumers. It is disheartening to see that consumers have lost so much faith that they are okay with buying a product even when they know that it is fake and it could be harmful. Almost 89% of consumers acknowledge the presence of fake products in the market, even after discovering a fake product consumers take no or negligible action against it. The survey revealed that the top categories in which consumers come across fakes are apparel (31%), FMCG (28%), automotive (25%), pharmaceuticals (20%), consumer durables (17%), and agrochemicals (16%).”

He added, “Awareness about the dangers associated with buying a fake product. They need to know that they might be spending less money but they might be making a very costly mistake. In critical products such as pharma, food, alcohol, etc, this mistake could cost lives. Products which can have a direct impact on human health on consumption, such as FMCG and pharmaceuticals, are among the top five categories which have a high percentage of fakes.”