Alibaba Group Holding issued a statement on Wednesday saying that it will continue to crack down on counterfeits, following its suspension from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC).
The IACC is a U.S.-based, nonprofit organization, with more than 250 members from over 40 countries and regions. Alibaba joined the coalition in April.
However, the organization suspended Alibaba's membership on Friday, following complaints from other members and conflicts of interest involving the coalition's president Robert Barchiesi.
Whether a member of the IACC or not, Alibaba always clamps down on fakes and protects intellectual property rights (IPR), said the statement.
For the past few years, Alibaba has been seeking cooperation with IACC members and similar organizations and governments to fight against counterfeits.
Alibaba worked with police in China and French fashion brand Louis Vuitton and tracked down over 60,000 faked bags originating from Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province on May 9, news portal bjnews.com.cn reported on Tuesday.
The company employs more than 2,000 full-time anti-counterfeiting staff.
Fighting against fake goods doesn't have much impact on Alibaba's profits, as its Taobao platform is a small part of the company's overall business, Lu Zhenwang, founder of Shanghai Wanqing Commerce Consulting, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"The world is vastly different from the era when the IACC was created in the 1970s. Counterfeiters are becoming increasingly high-tech, global and hidden," Alibaba said in the statement. "We hope the IACC and the whole industry can adopt a more open and collaborative approach in order to bring positive change for the industry and all its members."
Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma Yun canceled a speech at an anti-counterfeiting conference in Florida, after the suspension of membership by the IACC, which supported the conference.
