Notorious Markets Report Sends "Strong Warning" to Alibaba, Says AAFA

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s mention of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba in its 2015 Notorious Markets Report sent a strong warning to the company to stop and prevent the peddling of counterfeit goods on its websites (see 1512170016), the American Apparel & Footwear Association said on Dec. 17 (here). “The U.S. government sent a strong warning to Alibaba today ─ what it said was, clean up your sites, show us the results, and do it soon,” AAFA CEO Juanita Duggan said in a statement. “USTR told Alibaba to make serious reforms and get rid of the rampant counterfeit problem on its sites ─ AAFA agrees.” AAFA said USTR shares its concerns about Alibaba’s enforcement system, highlighting that the agency said in its report that the mechanism is “too slow, difficult to use, and lacks transparency.”

“After years of trying to work with Alibaba, we got nowhere. Every signal we received was that they were unwilling or unable to make reforms," she said. "In July, we called on Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma to work with us to develop new, transparent, and easy-to-use takedown procedures, but received no response,” Duggan said. “We hope Alibaba responds to this report and uses its position as one of the largest technology companies in the world to lead the way and eradicate counterfeits from its sites. We hope Alibaba chooses to become a market of integrity.”