U.S., Canadian officials warn of anticipated surge in FIFA World Cup dupes

Security officials are anticipating a surge of counterfeit goods entering Canada and the U.S. for the FIFA World Cup, prompting a warning that Canadian laws don't go far enough to stop it. 

Lawyer David Lipkus, who represents companies whose products are knocked off, says the system in Canada heavily relies on brands launching civil lawsuits instead of tougher border enforcement legislation.

"Our government needs to prioritize removing these goods from the marketplace similar to our counterparts in the United States and globally," Lipkus said.

The U.S. Embassy hosted a panel with Canadian and American border and intellectual property enforcement officials on Friday ahead of the FIFA World Cup. The officials spoke on the condition they not be named publicly. Provincial police, lawyers and sports industry representatives were in the room.

A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) official working in customs enforcement warned the World Cup is going to bring in new volumes of counterfeit products and it's using advanced data analysis and exploring AI to detect suspicious shipments.

An official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said when consumers buy dupes they could be funding other criminal activity that involve weapons and drugs.

"It's not just a counterfeit jersey. It's where the money is going, it's funding large-scale criminal organizations," the American official said.

The panel warned consumers about the risk of buying counterfeit goods during the same week Toronto police announced its largest seizure of counterfeit soccer merchandise in the country's history. Police seized more than $3.5 million worth of allegedly counterfeit goods claiming to be from big-name brands including FIFA, Puma, Nike and