A trade body representing the hologram sector has welcomed a new law for England and Wales aimed at tackling the illegal use of specialist printing equipment.
The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) sees the Specialist Printing Equipment and Materials (Offences) Act as a ‘significant’ step forward to secure the production of genuine security devices such as holograms. The Act, which received Royal Assent on March 27 and becomes law in May, will make it an offence to supply specialist printing equipment knowing that it will be used for criminal purposes, including the production of ID, passports, banknotes and tickets among other secured documents. It covers equipment and consumables, which means that it will apply to hologram manufacturing equipment as well as the actual holograms.
The Coalition argued that the investigation and prosecution of such crime will be more straightforward under the new law, which allows for fines and prison for up to ten years for offenders.
The IHMA points out that it brings England and Wales in line with Section 1028 of the US Crimes and Criminal Procedure Code, which outlaws similar wrong-doing with ID documents, authorisation features and data. The IHMA is a member of the Metropolitan Police anti-counterfeiting group Project Genesius, which has provided advice to the UK Home Office in drafting the Act.
Ian Lancaster, pictured, general secretary of the UK-based IHMA, said: “The Act will be very welcome and has to be seen as a positive move to support governments and industry in their fight against crime and terrorism at a time when ID document forgery is on the rise. This will also benefit brand owners tackling the problem of counterfeiting because they will be reassured that they will be using holograms supplied from bonafide sources as part of brand protection strategies.
“Remember that criminal counterfeiters have no scruples about who they supply – ID counterfeiters or brand counterfeiters, it’s all the same to them.
“Holography continues to play a key role as a highly effective, extremely flexible weapon in the ongoing battle to thwart counterfeiters and fraudsters. All involved in the supply chain will be reassured by the presence of holograms on products and recognise the benefits they provide.”
The use of authentication, as advocated in the international standard ISO’s 12931 on authentication, enables examiners to verify the authenticity of a legitimate product, differentiating it from the counterfeits coming out of China among other countries. Even those that carry a ‘fake’ authentication feature can be distinguished from the genuine item if that item carries a carefully thought-out authentication solution, the association adds.
And if the hologram is produced by a company which is a member of the IHMA, especially if they follow ISO 14298 on security print foil production management processes, then customers can be even more reassured that they are getting a secure hologram produced in a secure way, the associations adds. Visit www.ihma.org.
