World Intellectual Property Day highlights the link between innovation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

As happens every year, the World Customs Organization (WCO) is joining forces with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day.

This year’s theme for the awareness campaign launched by WIPO is: IP and the SDGs: Building our common future with innovation and creativity.

Adopted on 25 September 2015 by the 193 Member States of the United Nations, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a comprehensive framework for addressing the global challenges and promoting development that focuses, in particular, on the eradication of poverty, hunger and malnutrition; inclusive economic growth; the creation of resilient communities; and sustainable management of resources.

As key stakeholders in the detection of counterfeit products in global supply chains, Customs administrations play an essential role in safeguarding intellectual property rights (IPRs).

Focusing simultaneously on IPRs and SDGs, World Intellectual Property Day 2024 reminds us that IP fuels the innovative and creative solutions that we need to boost human development and achieve a better world for all. This awareness is vital for Customs administrations and consumers alike.

The WCO Secretariat therefore calls on Customs administrations to raise awareness among their staff as well as among consumers of the importance of IPRs, the harmful impact of trade in counterfeit goods and the dangers posed by those goods. Consumers should be encouraged, in particular, to exercise increased vigilance when purchasing online. To this end, Customs administrations may refer to the video raising awareness of this issue, which has been produced by the Secretariat.