The Authentication Forum to empower India, Industry, and Indians in the Fight against Fakes

by Suman Gupta

TOPICS:#Authentication Solutions Providers’ Association (ASPA)  #Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt. Ltd.

New Delhi,OCTOBER, 2019 :   Authentication Solutions Providers’ Association (ASPA) and Messe Frankfurt India are organizing the third edition of The Authentication Forum in Delhi. The two-day flagship leadership summit is scheduled for 7th and 8th November 2019 at the Lalit Hotel, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi.

ASPA (Authentication Solutions Providers’ Association) is the world’s first and only self-regulated non-profit organization that represents the entire as physical and digital authentication solutions industry globally. The association has taken on the task of nurturing the anti-counterfeiting ecosystem by sensitizing consumers, brands and policymakers towards the menace of counterfeiting and creating awareness around the solutions. To take this mission forward The Authentication Forum is organized annually.

Counterfeiting corrupts an economy by harming consumer rights, damaging brand equity, causing losses to industries and causing loss of government revenues. The menace of counterfeiting has caused a revenue loss of approximately INR 1 Trillion (14.7 Billion USD) to the Indian economy and curbing it could give a huge boost to the economy. Counterfeiting can effectively be curbed with widespread and proper implementation of authentication technologies, enforcement, awareness, and monitoring. At the Authentication Forum, industry stalwarts, government departments officials, representatives of regulatory bodies, business leaders from various industries, representatives of national business associations, etc would come together to discuss effective and efficient strategies to fight counterfeiting in various industries. Also, showcase and deliberate on solutions and systems which are available in the country.

Eminent personalities from renowned organizations from across industries like FMCG, Auto, Pharmaceutical, E-commerce, Packaging, Consumer Durables, Crop Protection – Agriculture, Fertilizers, Pesticides, etc would be speaking at the event. Mr. Ramashankar Pandey, Chairman, Aftermarket Committee, ACMA & Managing Director, Hella India; Mr. Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE & Senior Vice President-Corporate Affairs, ITC Ltd.; Dr. Jayashree Gupta, President, Consumers India; Mr. Yash Pal Sachar, General Manager Corporate Affairs, Honda Cars India; Mr. Amartyaa Kumaar Guha, Associate Director Supply Chain, Flipkart; Mr. Amit Kale, Assistant Vice President, SME Packaging, Automation and Quality Control, Reliance Industries; Mr. Harendra Bana, Associate Director Security, India Region, PepsiCo.; Mr. Pankaj Kumar Patodi, Head Supply Chain, Godfrey Philips India; Mr. Vikas Ranjan, Brand Protection Manager India and South East Asia & Member – Global IPR, Adidas; Mr. Arshad Jamil, Associate Vice President and Head Intellectual Property Rights, Biocon Biologics India; Mr. Ashraf Ali, Anti-Counterfeit Manager India, Bayer CropScience; Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, Insecticides India and Mr. Ulrike Kreysa, Vice President Healthcare, GS1 Global Office among others would be participating in the panel discussions.

Speaking about the upcoming forum Mr. Nakul Pasricha, President, ASPA said, ”The forum is a unique initiative to get voices and opinions from various stakeholders on one platform and find ways to collaborate in the fight against fake products. Counterfeiting is a huge challenge for our country which causes big losses to various industries. It is high time that every stakeholder acknowledges how big this problem is and joins hands to find a solution. It is also important to sensitize the consumers and spread awareness about the power they have thanks to the digital technologies which can provide real-time intelligence and data analytics. Authentication solution companies are ready to help industry in solving three important issues a) Providing visibility & traceability within the Supply Chain b) Ensuring every consumer receives genuine products without any tampering and c) Enabling consumer engagement in the authentication process. We are excited about the upcoming forum and the impact it will have on businesses going forward.”

The aim of the conference is to empower India, Industry, and Indians in the fight against fakes. There will be discussions around counterfeiting landscape in India – role of the government and industry in curbing counterfeit menace, counterfeiting analysis from a global perspective – what other countries / global brands are doing to combat counterfeiting, consumer empowerment in the fight against fakes, implementing an end-to-end anti-counterfeiting system across industries, evolution of brand protection and anti-counterfeiting, anti-counterfeiting and supply chain security, future of Authentication technologies such as big data, Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain; And adoption and implementation of anti-counterfeiting solutions.

About Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA):Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) is a self-regulated, non-profit organization of authentication solution providers. Formed in 1998 with the objective to fight fakes products in various sectors, it is one of its kind association in the world primarily focused on the adoption and advancement of authentication technologies and solutions for Brand, Revenue and Document Protection. ASPA members protect over 15,000 brands worldwide through the identification of genuine products and documents. ASPA is creating awareness to fight fake/duplicate & counterfeit products which are harmful to consumer, industry, economy, and society at large. ASPA works closely with global authorities such as International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), Counterfeit Intelligence Bureau (CIB – Interpol), FICCI CASCADE, and other industry bodies in India.