National Markets Group

About the National Markets Groupnationalmarketsgroup

The National Markets Group was established in 2008 to provide a forum for a national, co-ordinated, cross-sector approach to tackle the trade in counterfeit goods at markets and car boot fairs. This co-ordinated approach brings the following key benefits:

  • stakeholders can share ideas;
  • best-practice models can be developed;
  • consumer awareness campaigns and resources can be pooled;
  • intelligence on rogue traders and counterfeit products can be exchanged through secure channels.

Who We Are

Members of the National Markets Group include:

  • Chartered Trading Standards Institute
  • National Trading Standards
  • Local Authority TS Teams
  • Individual TSOs
  • Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Intelligence Hub
  • The Department of Work and Pensions
  • Individual Police Authorities
  • HM Revenue & Customs
  • Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS)
  • National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA)
  • Organisations tackling the issue of illegal tobacco sales
  • Industry groups representing trademark and copyright holders (including the Industry Trust for IP Awareness, Alliance Against IP Theft, FACT, ACG, BPI)

Broad areas of work

The work of the National Markets Group falls into two strands:

  1. Co-ordinated enforcement activity, coordinating intelligence and targeting markets that are identified as having serious problems with traders in counterfeit goods;
  2. Real Deal initiative, which is a preventative campaign focused on a national markets charter, and which provides guidance, information and promotional support to market operators and trading standards to ensure that participating markets stay fake-free.

Meetings and Contact

The National Markets Group meets four times a year online and/or in London and other locations around the UK.

The current Chair of the Group is Gavin Terry, email gavin.terry@gmx.com. Vice Chair of the Group is Graham Mogg, who may be contacted by email at graham@wri-group.com

Outreach

The partnership approach of the NMG was recently highlighted in a presentation by NMG Chair, Gavin Terry, to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The meeting considered the role of Market Surveillance as a means to protect consumers and users against counterfeit goods. Details on the meeting and Gavin’s presentation can be viewed here: Market surveillance role in combatting counterfeit products | UNECE