American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) Calls Out Social Commerce Platforms for Counterfeiting

AAFA and the Notorious Markets List: Key Insights

• Repeated Nominations for Meta Platforms and Shopee: The American Apparel & Footwear Association has nominated Meta platforms and Shopee for inclusion on its Notorious Markets List for consecutive years. The list warns of physical and online locations that facilitate the distribution of infringing products. AliExpress was also nominated this year.

• Counterfeiting Is Increasing on Online Platforms: AAFA points to the surge in fraudulent listings and fake goods on trending social commerce platforms and sites like AliExpress or Shopee, which do not take enough proactive measures or retribution to deter repeat offenders.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has drawn attention to the growing volume of counterfeit goods on popular eCommerce platforms. This is especially true for Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, but also for players based in China, like AliExpress and DHgate, or the Singaporean site Shopee. 

Each year, AAFA proposes the inclusion of physical and online markets on the Notorious Markets List for promoting counterfeit products and those that violate copyright. The most current version of the 2023 Notorious Markets List includes 39 online markets and 33 physical markets. For the 2024 List, AAFA’s submission repeatedly nominated all Meta platforms and Shopee, as well as AliExpress and DHgate. 

According to AAFA, these platforms are not taking enough proactive measures to combat the number of fraudulent offers or counterfeit products, as well as copyright violations. Repeat offenders are also not deterred enough to avoid future violations.

Counterfeiting Explodes in eCommerce

For two of its member brands, AAFA has seen an increase in counterfeiting that has nearly tripled from the previous year. By undercutting the originals on price, counterfeiters can easily sell knockoffs on online platforms that do little to stop the surge.   

It is difficult for online brand representatives to combat the flood of counterfeits. As the size of international eCommerce marketplaces prevents clear oversight, the growing number of fraudulent offers can be met less and less by corporate actors alone.

Social commerce allows the proliferation of anonymous sellers without regulation or proper oversight. Inclusion in the Notorious Markets report could be a first step toward possible legislation that would require proactive measures on all shopping platforms to limit counterfeiting. The SHOP SAFE Act is currently under consideration in Congress.

Sources: AAFA Global – Retail Dive – USTR