Apparels with labels mentioning the manufacturing country has a special value in the market based on the country it is made. What if these labels are fake themselves?

A survey report states that 7 out of 10 surveyed consumers say that they prefer to buy counterfeit apparels. Current market for 'look alike' products, which are cheaper than the original ones are soaring. They are passed on as real goods. A few days before, Nigerian authorities confiscated a shipment of drugs which had fake 'made in India' labels. Currently, apparels that are manufactured in China with a fake 'Made in India' label are sold in the Nigerian markets.

China is one of the world's largest exporters of textiles, and apparels with a 25% market share. Cotton, silk, manmade yarn and woolen garments are being exported in large volumes to Nigeria from China. Counterfeit products are rampant in China and are also being sold in other countries at an unbelievably less price. Fake garments with poor quality are made in China and are being tagged as Indian made and are sold in the apparel markets in Nigeria. They are inferior in quality and are sold at a fraction of the price of original goods. The stitching is of poor quality and fine details regarding the garment will be missing.

Unlike drugs with a misleading label, a garment with a fake 'made in' label is not harmful to anyone. But the quality of those garments affects the volume of apparel exports from India. Due to fake Chinese products being sold in the market, Indian apparel exports have declined from Rs.224.7 crore in 2006-07 to Rs.119.2 crore during 2007-08.

Indian apparel exports prove to be disappointing during the recent years. The deterioration stems due to a weak demand in the global market partly due to recession, and to a certain extent due to the surge of Chinese clothing in the market. China's exports to US surged after the removal of quotas. Now with Chinese clothing available in the market with a fake 'made in India' label, the exports are likely to get affected more deeply. The Government of India has raised a strong protest against the fake Chinese products with the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. Further it has also brought this issue to the notice of China's foreign trade ministry in Beijing.

Counterfeits are going up the ante, and are making sizable profit margins out to these goods. The best way to spot a fake garment is through its material. These garments are made using cheap and inferior materials in comparison to genuine clothing. Strict actions should be taken to restrict illegal manufacturing and selling for counterfeited products.

References:

1.       http://www.thaindian.com

2.       http://consumerist.com