4^th April 2023, Nairobi Kenya,

The partnership was discussed during a visit by Mr. Benito Montiel the US Customs and Border Protection Commercial Attache' who paid courtesy call to Dr. Robi Njoroge Mbugua Executive Director of the Anti-Counterfeit Authority.

The three-day International Conference will be the first in Kenya and will be held from 13^th -15^th June 2023 as a climax in commemorating the World Anti-Counterfeit Day 2023.

The conference will bring together policymakers, judicial officers, enforcers, leading academic scientists, research scholars and practitioners to exchange and share their experiences and research results on targeted aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

The conference aims to provide a platform to discuss national, regional and international knowledge and experience on IP and development issues. Participants will be expected to share best practices in management and enforcement of intellectual property rights by creating stronger international partnerships to address the growing menace of IP theft.

“Collaboration at the international level by enforcement agencies is key towards effective enforcement and combating intellectual property crime. We look forward to working with ACA hosting the international conference and also building on exisiting partnership in the fight against IP crimes and their networks”. Mr. Montiel.

The visiting CBP team included Mr. Harrison Koech and Gladys Kang’ethe of CBP in Nairobi and was attended by senior members of ACA Management.

In seeking to strengthen existing collaboration between the two agencies, the ACA Executive Director welcomed the initiative saying the Authority had a mandate under the Anti-Counterfeit Act 2008 to partner with national, regional and international partners on matters of fighting counterfeits. “Partnerships are important to counter transnational crimes as no single country can effectively combat counterfeiting and illicit trade”. Dr. Mbugua said.