b) Forensics

b) Forensics

Forensic science works off of the physical remnants of past criminal activity, and, therefore has certain native and non-native principles that guide its operation, application, and interpretation. One of the implicit precepts in this view of forensic science is that the production history of mass-produced goods is embedded in the finished product. This production history sets in large part the specificity and resolution of the evidentiary significance of that item. In some cases, certain evidence types are analysed without a concrete focus on the product’s origins or production history, which could be essential to identify critical information. Supply chains can generate numerous variations encountered in most mass-produced items, therefore, the foundation for the potential significance of those items encountered as evidence in forensic investigations and casework.28

In the field of supply chain management, forensic science has been able to identify the particular parameters of any product to determine how or if it can be differentiated from other similar products. A product resulting from the supply chain process can be seen as the culmination of certain contingencies (nodes in the supply chain) and continuities (production methods) intrinsic in its manufacture.29

The techniques used to analyse the goods occasionally overlap with chemistry methods that are employed by the supply chain stakeholders to verify the quality and security standards of the products. In this regard, forensics can be used to analyse a product which has already reached the market to verify if it is counterfeit or not. The comparison of the physical and chemical characteristics of a suspected counterfeit product can determine if the analysed good is, in effect, a counterfeit. This evidence can even be brought in court to support allegations of counterfeiting since it may also serve as a tool for tracing back to the origin of the incident. In addition, it is possible to trace back the composition to its source or compare other counterfeits to verify if they have the same origin.

28 Houck, M. M. (2010). An Investigation into the Foundational Principles of Forensic Science (doctoral dissertation). Curtin University of Technology. Retrieved 2020, from https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/1568/146239_Houck%20M%20 2010%20Full.pdf?sequence=2 29 Ibid

CHAPTER 2

Agro-food mafia

Organized crime has always demonstrated a great interest in controlling legitimate economic activities by combining money laundering operations with the diversification of profits and investment possibilities. This is one of the main reasons pushing criminal organizations to infiltrate the legal economy. This infiltration can take different forms. While it mainly results in the direct or indirect control of legal businesses, companies can be acquired, administered or controlled in different ways; one of the most common being through the fictitious interposition of third persons to circumvent the effects of freezing orders or asset seizure measures against criminal assets. Criminal reinvestments may also target whole business entities operating within the supply chain, from wholesale distribution to supermarkets and retailers. This strategy involves, if necessary, the use of violence against businesses resisting intimidation, and ultimately aims at creating monopolies in specific sectors to maximize profits and disrupt fair competition.

Over the last few years, the involvement of organized criminal groups in the agro-food sector has become more prominent and is commonly referred to as “agro-mafia”. In Italy, where a strong agro-food sector stands alongside the consolidated presence of organized crime, the food fraud business has flourished since the early 2000s, with a constant increase in revenue lost to criminals. The potential health and safety consequences for unsuspecting consumers have prompted the European Union (EU) Member States to increase vigilance against criminal food fraud. In Germany – one of Italy’s main trading partners – law enforcement authorities have confirmed the existence of a modus operandi of Italian “agro-mafia”. This strategy operates by peddling counterfeit food to catering businesses in the German territory through a network of door-to-door sales agents. Similar criminal activities are also present in other countries.

From a broader perspective, the prevalence and success of this criminal modus operandi points at the emerging risk of criminals acquiring control and/or infiltrating the supply chain for mass-market food products – which are usually not a priority for law enforcement operations. In this respect, an issue of special concern is the online sale of counterfeit and substandard food products, which can easily escape detection. Since the market share of products bought via the World Wide Web is extensively growing, this has also attracted the interest of organized crime as an unmissable opportunity for profit. But while the electronic market provides cover for illegal activities, online activities will also usually leave traces which can be found and used during an investigation to monitor and trace the illegal acts.

In some cases, governments are also directly intervening to ensure the enforcement of IP-protected food and beverages across the Internet, as in the case of the activities performed in relation to Geographical Indications (GI) by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and presented in the box below.

Department of central inspectorate for fraud repression and quality protection of agri-food products and foodstuffs (ICQRF)

The ICQRF developed a unique approach in relation to e-commerce, in view of protecting the intellectual property rights related to geographical indications. ICQRF conducts constant searches for relevant IP related products in online marketplaces and identifies what kind of infringements should be investigated (unlawful use of the registered name, false advertising, misuse, usurpation, imitation, evocation) in order to take further actions for the removal of products’ offers.

The protection of the geographical indication of the product is obtained through a model where ICQRF acts as the representative for the protection of GIs, enabling strong direct cooperation with the marketplaces. Cooperation is also achieved through the stipulation of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with marketplaces to allow quicker and more effective takedowns for offers related to products that are infringing GIs. In addition, there is further collaboration with other Member States to remove online content.

The activity has been performed over a number of years, and the following are some cases which show how GIs are infringed online and where ICQRF has operated.

Source: ICQRF Activity Report 2019

Source: ICQRF Activity Report 2019

Source: ICQRF Activity Report 2019

Source: ICQRF Activity Report 2019