Each year the paradise islands of the Caribbean attract hordes of tourists, the not wholly unwitting targets of counterfeit goods traffickers relatively untroubled until now by the authorities. But times are changing. Luckily!

With its white sandy beaches stretching as far as the eye can see, the Caribbean, year in year out, acts as a magnet for hundreds of thousands of tourists who for their part are a sure-fire lure for the fake goods industry. For too long this has led to an easy, backwater life, sheltered from local authorities paying scant attention to the damage inflicted by the scourge of counterfeiting on rights holders, not to mention public finances and the population in general.

This era thankfully came to an end last year and henceforth it will be possible to take action in the Caribbean to thwart the plans of counterfeiters and their allies. Two initiatives in which the FH participated took place in 2009, the first in Willemstad (Curaçao), the second in Oranjestad (Aruba).
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