It's just a wallet, after all.

The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) doesn't think so. For the IACC, the wallet you just bought is a tangible link between an ordinary, well-intentioned American consumer and organized crime. In the world of law enforcement, they call it OC, an international underworld that uses the profits garnered from the sale of "harmless" counterfeit products to subsidize another, darker line of sales and services, drugs, prostitution, illegal gambling, and money laundering.

On June 28, the IACC and the U.S. Customs Service co-sponsored a press conference and product exhibit at Customs Headquarters in Washington, DC. Stuart Seidel, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Regulations and Rulings, called counterfeiters "purely and simply hijackers with a more sophisticated style. These are criminals masquerading as legitimate businessmen." Seidel continued, "As the global economy becomes more service and idea-based, their turf is no longer the back alleys, but the world marketplace. Honest businesses lose billions of dollars to counterfeiters every year."

Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

Samples of counterfeit watches seized by U.S. Customs.

Seidel's perspective on a process most consumers see as benign is enough to make you stop and think, but the dramatic testimony of Brian Monks from Underwriters Laboratory (UL) spoke directly to a fear almost everyone has entertained when a deal seemed too good to be true.

Holding up an innocent looking surge protector - the six outlet electrical power strip you reach for when you can't figure out how to keep the AC, the PC, and the TV all going at the same time - Monks said, "You can buy a power strip like this for less than a dollar from a vendor selling counterfeit products. And you never expect to lose your life [fire hazard] for something that costs 99 cents - but you can. It happens all the time. This stuff is substandard. Safety is the issue, and the guy who sells you one of these can be as dangerous to you and your family as a criminal who breaks into your home with a gun."

Monks said UL has been partnering with Customs since 1997, and together, the organizations have seized more than 4.3 million products bearing counterfeit UL labels. Much of this counterfeit cargo comes from China, said Customs officials at the press conference, but even there the problem has at last attracted the attention of the government, which has issued a directive opening up the way for better copyright protection.

In 1994, 98 percent of the software in China was pirated - in Vietnam, the figure was an incredible 100 percent. Today Russia and Asia have the most active pirate markets, with peaks of up to 90 percent of all their software being illegitimate copies. Phony software, pirated CDs and substandard electrical goods routinely travel west, from Asia to Europe and the U.S. When asked about the methods used to smuggle counterfeit goods into the U.S., Frank Figueroa, Deputy Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Investigations, says, "It comes in just like other smuggled merchandise, via phony invoices, undervaluation, and concealed in or among legitimate cargo."

The message Customs and IACC sent out at their joint press conference was loud and clear: International agencies, law enforcement organizations, and the nations of the world must work together to create sound border regimes. Until the late 1980s, U.S. Customs was one of the few enforcement organizations in the world that regularly exercised its Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement authority.

Today, the World Trade Organization expects its members to abide by the tenets of its TRIPS Agreement (TRIPS is an acronym for "trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights"), which emphasizes enforcement and the immediate need for nations to establish border regimes with strict and uniform standards.

When the press conference was over, press and the public were invited to visit exhibitions of counterfeit products that manufacturers had set up in the halls of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Underwriters Laboratory had a table-full of substandard electrical products, all bearing counterfeit UL labels. Microsoft was there as well with software many exhibit visitors had a hard time even identifying as counterfeit (Microsoft representatives said almost nobody can – so just remember to buy your software from a licensed dealer). But not every counterfeit product on display was one that could jettison viruses into your expensive laptop or burn down your house - representatives from Louis Vuitton and Cartier, Calvin Klein, and Chanel were there to make their case as well.

"I love Chanel," a woman admits to Adrienne Hahn, the company's on-site representative. "How can you be sure," she asked, "if it's the real thing when you buy it?"

"Genuine Chanel products," says Ms. Hahn, "are sold only at Chanel Boutiques and high-end retail stores."

The woman looked concerned. "What about those duty-free shops in airports?" she asked.

Adrienne Hahn smiled. "There too."

As the woman turned to leave, the Chanel representative said goodbye and offered one last word of advice: "Remember, it's your skin."

The Chanel representative had been more insightful than even she might have suspected. Customs and its enforcement partners around the world were not only working to save her customer's skin, but everybody else's as well.