ASPA and GS1 India Sign MoU

At the end of June, the Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) and GS1 India joined forces to, as they describe, take the fight against counterfeiting to the next level in India, with the use of global standards.

ASPA is a self-regulated non-profit organisation that represents the entire physical and digital authentication solutions industry. GS1 India, a standards body, is responsible for administering the use of global supply chain standards in India to enable businesses to implement counterfeit detection and product authentication solutions. GS1 standards are most commonly used in the barcoding of consumer items, in order to facilitate the identification, capture and sharing of information on products and services, from point-of-origin to point-of-sale or dispensation.

The two organisations have signed an MoU to jointly work towards mainstreaming and nurturing the anti-counterfeiting ecosystem by promoting the use of standards-based solutions.

Counterfeit products across various sectors in India are causing losses of over 1 trillion rupees ($13.4 billion) every year to the government, and the number of counterfeit cases increased by nearly 24% in 2019 compared to 2018, said the two companies in a press release.