2006年VOA标准英语-Africa's Counterfeit Goods Face Lax Legislation

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
12 November 2006

 
Hawkers in piracy¹ in Abidjan 
  
A seminar was held last week in Senegal on stamping out counterfeit² goods trafficked throughout Africa. These include a growing trade in tampered³ medical drugs and pirated music and movies. Officials and activists⁴ say better laws are needed to protect manufacturers and the general population. 

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Officials at the seminar said governments in developing countries used to think counterfeit goods were a problem for rich countries.

But now they say they realize with dangerous drugs being sold in street markets, the problems actually affect poor people even more. The problem can kill them.

Africans are also realizing counterfeiting⁵ can sap economic development.

Struggling musicians who depend on local markets are popular, but can barely scrape by a living when most of their music is sold outside legal channels.

These were some of the examples highlighted at a conference this week in Dakar.

Christophe Zimmerman who is in charge of the fight against counterfeiting and piracy at the Brussels-based World Customs Organization says African governments need to understand the severity of the problem.

Busy traffic doesn't stop this man selling fake drugs in Abidjan  
  
"If we come to Africa and Africa is one of our main control priorities, but it is just for political awareness⁶, first of all," said Zimmerman. "Second of all, [it is] to try to analyze⁷, to understand what is happening there."

"When you go to the market, the open market, a lot of things are fake," continued Zimmerman. "We know that. Africa needs to have a regulation, a specific legislation about that and it is not the case."

The head of customs in Senegal Armand Naga says training of anti-counterfeit experts is also crucial.

He says experts need to differentiate⁸ between a real product and a fake one. He says they look very much alike and that often the fake one looks nicer than the real one. And he says stamping out the trade in counterfeit goods is probably easier at borders than anywhere else in Africa.

But Zimmerman says counterfeit businessmen are often way ahead of the law, whether at borders or inside countries, and that their regard for public safety is alarmingly non-existent.

"I saw a very strange thing [once]. I saw brakes made out of grass. And I promise you, you were not able to see that it was fake," he added. "But it was just grass. Can you imagine when you put brakes made in grass in your car?"

During the seminar, officials from Senegal's government announced that they would soon submit a law to establish an anti-counterfeiting brigade and increase regional cooperation.

Outspoken⁹ Senegalese rap artist Didier Awadi says he has heard it all before.

He says authorities are making no real effort. He says laws are too lenient¹⁰ if anyone is caught, and that the way they are written, only the petty criminals are caught, while the real bosses of the counterfeit underworld, he says, pay off bribes¹¹ to continue in their ways.

What am I to do, he asks, if I see a young man selling a pirated tape of my music at a red light in traffic? Should I stop my car and beat him up? He says, if he takes the law into his own hands, he will be the one facing government persecution¹². If he tries to use the existing laws, he says, he will get only frustration¹³.

1 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

2 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

3 tampered   

v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• The records of the meeting had been tampered with. 会议记录已被人擅自改动。 来自辞典例句
• The old man's will has been tampered with. 老人的遗嘱已被窜改。 来自辞典例句

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

6 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

7 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

8 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

9 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

10 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

11 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

12 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

13 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。