Leading India's fight against counterfeiting, The Authentication Solution Providers' Association (ASPA) has committed itself to the ambitious target of Zero Counterfeiting. With this vision, the association is aggressively advancing on a strategic path toward strengthening the front against counterfeiting. The association has already rolled out a five-year strategy from 2022-2027 to become a global Industry voice in the authentication and traceability ecosystem. The association has announced the next chapter of its pioneering program, 'Traceability and Authentication Forum' scheduled for 6 to 7 July 2023 at Hotel Hyatt Regency, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi.

The underbelly of counterfeiting and illicit trade is a huge threat to the economy, deeply rooted over the years and with an unfortunate push due to the pandemic, plus its lingering effect, counterfeiting is increasingly causing damage across all sectors. Counterfeiting constitutes almost 25-30% of the products (State of Counterfeiting in India 2022). It is most prevalent in key sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriproducts, apparel, automotive, FMCG, and consumer durables.

ASPA believes that an effective change can be brought about only by implementing a Strategic Plan which includes advanced research and development, promoting the adoption of solutions, increased awareness of Authentication and Traceability solutions (ATS), developing tools to measure the impact of counterfeiting and its scale, encouraging the adoption of professional ethics and best practices within the association and enhancing the global reach and footprint of ASPA.

Sharing his thoughts during the meeting, Nakul Pasricha, president Authentication Solution Providers' Association (ASPA), said, "As the nation celebrates 75th Independence Year as "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", ASPA commits itself to the vision of Zero Counterfeiting and align their strength towards this goal. We are proud of the progress our nation has made and to truly accelerate this progress for the future, we need to address the problem of counterfeiting and illicit trade. In the post-pandemic transformed India, it is impossible to visualize the product ecosystem without the growing use of anti-counterfeiting, authentication and traceability solutions. Governments and businesses will have to work together towards fighting counterfeiting to ensure citizens' overall well-being, protect consumers from getting cheated, and protect products and businesses. The return on investment in authentication solutions is significant, and we are confident that India will see a sharp rise in adoption of these technologies and solutions."