The abundant availability of counterfeit fashion goods has executives from some of the world's most powerful companies lobbying governments for global enforcement agencies to support efforts to counter the multi-billion pound piracy of goods, according to a Women's Wear Daily US report. Experts at the third Global Congress Combating Counterfeiting & Piracy said the problem, which once only affected music chart artists and luxury accessories has inundated every sector of the worldwide economy - from textiles, clothing and footwear to autoparts and medicines.

"This is a global phenomenon which requires global action," said Kamil Idris, chief of the World Intellectual Property Organization. "Counterfeiters and pirates are thwarting economic development and endangering health and safety. Their methods are sophisticated, their reach is far and their crimes claim victims every day." In terms of figures, the U.S. last year made 15,000 seizures by customs agents, up 83 percent compared with 2005, and that the same trends are being observed in the European Union.

"The scale of the problem is massive ... In the space of a few weeks, almost 200 containers, mostly filled with counterfeit versions of a well-known U.S. footwear brand, were intercepted at two major European ports, giving a total weight of almost 6,000 tons of fake goods flooding in," an expert stated. A survey by 48 companies in 27 product categories found that China was responsible for two-thirds of all counterfeit goods impounded in the European Union, followed by Russia, Ukraine, Chile and Turkey.