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Combined with similar provisions in the recently concluded The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the change could usher in a new era of Canadian border guards combating counterfeit merchandise that their own citizens will likely never buy.

That would be a welcome development, say advocates for copyright-holding companies.

Photo by Postmedia Files

“A counterfeit is a counterfeit is a counterfeit,” said David Lipkus, a Toronto-based lawyer. “The end goal for the counterfeit merchandise always is to remove it from the marketplace, and the best place to do that is at the border.”

As it stands now, “Canada is seen as the weak link,” said Mark Evans, another Toronto-based intellectual-property lawyer. “I’m hopeful this is the first step … toward strengthening all of these border measures.”

But those who applaud the change set out in the tentative trade deal also say there’s no guarantee it will lead to concrete action. Despite laws that already give officials power to act in other areas, Canada has largely ignored the counterfeit problem, they charge.

Documents released in June 2017 indicated the Canada Border Services Agency had detained just 36 shipments in the two years since the current anti-counterfeit law came into effect.

By contrast, the U.S. seized 34,000 shipments of knock-offs last year alone, including almost 600 from Canada, according to Homeland Security Department statistics. Even on a per-capita basis, that is well over a 100-fold difference.