In order to squeeze back the black economy and to effectively fight against the violation of intellectual property rights, the Government decided to set up the National Board Against Counterfeiting (NBAC) through the Government Decision 1002/2008. (I. 25.) on the amendment to the Government decree 1074/2007. (X.1.) on the assignments of the Government Commissioner for the 'New order and freedom' programme. The board, presided by the Government Commissioner for the 'New order and freedom' programme and meant to deal with proposal-making, opinion-forming and consulting tasks, incorporates representatives of state organisations with intellectual property-related tasks and powers as well as social and economic interest representative organisations involved in the protection of intellectual property. Government decree 1002/2008. (I. 25.) also set it as a task to work out a national strategy against counterfeiting for the sake of taking harmonised actions against counterfeiting. The National Strategy Against Counterfeiting (in the following: "strategy") and the attached action plan have been worked out for the years 2008- 2010 through the active participation of NBAC, and have been adopted by the Government through the government decree 2140/2008. (X. 15.).

The strategy introduces the legal and institutional background towards enforcing intellectual property rights, gives an overview of the Hungarian features of violating intellectual property rights and the impacts of the violations of law, as well as covers the experiences of international actions taken against the violation of intellectual property rights. The strategy defines the main pillars of the steps to be taken against the violation of intellectual property rights together with the directions of the actions, specifies the required instruments, and determines the aspects relevant to monitoring the implementation and measuring its effectiveness. An action plan is set forth for the period between 2008 and 2010 together with defining the various measures, the responsible persons and the available sources for this purpose.

The objective of the strategy is that the implementation of the attached action plan
- should significantly reduce the rate of infringing intellectual property rights;
- the actions against violations of law should become more effective, and their  
instrumentation should improve;
- the social awareness regarding the importance of protecting intellectual property rights and the consequences of their violation should be enhanced.

The three main pillars of the strategy, serving as a basis for the direction of the actions and measures, are as follows:

The first pillar covers statistics. The main direction of actions covers: collecting statistical data regarding the counterfeiting-related violations of law, working out the methodology for statistical data collection and evaluation, compiling a properly structured database that is accessible for everyone, as well as elaborating procedures related to determining the economic consequences of counterfeiting and the damage caused by counterfeiting. Setting up a system for counterfeiting-related statistical data ensures that  a realistic, accurate and methodologically well-founded status report is made about the Hungarian rate and the features of infringements to intellectual property rights. In addition, it can also assist Hungary in fulfilling the reporting obligations prescribed in the guideline of the European Parliament and Council 2004/48/EK on the enforcement of intellectual property rights - highlighting the impacts of the transposition of the guideline - as well as in assessing the consequences of counterfeiting on the economy at a macro level. 

2. The second pillar of the strategy covers awareness-raising. In this area, the main objective is to initiate and to implement awareness-raising and opinion-forming measures connected to the protection of intellectual property and law enforcement. In conformity with this, the targeted extended training of associates of state bodies cooperating in law enforcement -  thus specifically organisations of justice and supervision - must be ensured. Furthermore, informative and educational programmes and campaigns must be worked out and carried on towards various social target groups concerned, thus specifically to small- and medium-sized enterprises, consumers and young people.

3. Law enforcement is the third pillar of the strategy. Within the framework of this, the objective is to review the law enforcement-related legal regulatory environment, the issues of the application of law, measures and instruments to assist those who are entitle thereto, as well as required modifications, new tools and measures are initiated. Besides providing an appropriate legal regulatory background to law enforcement, care must be taken that the development of the Hungarian legal practice related to law enforcement should also take a direction where it can protect the interests of the entitled parties in the most effective manner. One has to initiate supporting measures that - beyond the potential legal opportunity - provide an actual chance for those entitled to enforce their rights against people who infringe the laws. One has to examine the opportunity to apply tools, technologies and services (eMage, eMark, RFID, ADNS) that are aimed at avoiding, preventing and recognising the infringements of law.

Apart from the above three pillars of the strategy, the following three industries are given attention in the strategy by marking out the direction of the actions and measures, on the one hand due to the possible social and health consequences of counterfeiting emerging in these fields, on the other hand due to the intensity of counterfeiting that can be experienced in these fields, and on the third hand with a view to the Hungarian industrial interests.

• Measures required in the food industry: reviewing legal regulations affecting the field of food counterfeiting on the basis of the practical experiences of the law enforcement authorities, developing tools required for detecting cases of counterfeiting, building an up-to-date, continuously maintained and publicly available database of food counterfeiting data, and setting up a "hot line". Within the framework of awareness raising, a communication campaign must be initiated, focusing on the consumer protection references of food counterfeiting, and it is necessary to set up a legal remedy service as well as to train and educate official experts.

• The next prioritised area is the industry of pharmaceutical products and pesticides. In this regard, the strategy marked out as the most important direction of actions: the revision of the legal regulatory environment and legal practice (parallel import, re-packaging, penal law sanctioning, customs authority procedural laws and opportunities to take measures), developing tools required for detection, review of the organisational system, as well as working out and launching specialised training for law application bodies in order to recognise counterfeited products. Awareness-raising measures cover the provision of legal remedy service, training and educating official experts, as well as it is necessary to organise a communication campaign that focuses on the consumer protection aspects of medicine counterfeiting as well as on the detrimental consequences of counterfeiting veterinary products and pesticides.

•  The strategy also marks out the main directions against counterfeiting in the field of creative and IT industries: institutionalising cooperation between the creative and IT industries and investigation authorities (training and awareness-raising) in order to effectively fight violations of copyrights; launching an educational programme and awareness-raising campaign focused on employers and their interest representations in order to prevent violations of copyrights at work; as well as launching special training to law application bodies focused on recognising Internet piracy. Within the law enforcement pillar, it is necessary - in order to encourage steps against piracy - to review the regulatory system governing Internet service providers and Internet-based services, and - with a view to preventing pirate copies - to review the rules on controlling the establishment and operation of facilities manufacturing optical data carriers.

In harmony with the directions of actions and prioritised industries defined in the strategy, working groups have been setup in order to prepare and coordinate the envisaged tasks (statistics; legal practice regarding penalties and offences; medicine and pesticide counterfeiting; training, education; creative and IT industries; Internet-based services), where both state bodies as well as social and interest representation organisations are appropriately represented.

The financial sources for implementing the strategy are as follows: the part of the budget of the Hungarian Patent Office and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,  separated for this purpose and indicated in the action plan; further instruments allocated to this purpose by, and constituting a part of the own budget of state organisations who are responsible for implementing the strategy and who are cooperating therein; tools offered by social and interest representation organisations cooperating in implementing the strategy; sources from tenders; other recommendations.

The strategy is implemented through carrying out the action plan, which constitutes an annex to the strategy. The action plan specifies in an annual breakdown the measures ordered to the various pillars and industries, by indicating the responsible persons, and in the given case the parties requested to cooperate and the resources required for implementation. The strategy must be implemented in keeping with the basic principles of partnership, long-term approach, transparency and controllability.

It is the task of the NBAC to control the implementation of the strategy, whereby the experience about the implementation and the impacts of the strategy and the difficulties emerging in the course of the implementation are determined from the results of surveys and data collections initiated with regard to the violation of intellectual property rights. The NBAC controls the implementation and realisation of the strategy on an annual basis, and discusses the changes taking place with regard to violations of intellectual property in Hungary. The Government must give a report on the implementation of the action plan, laid down in the strategy, in the year of 2011.

The expected economic, budgetary, social, health-related, environmental as well as other impacts and consequences of implementing the strategy:
- it promotes innovation and increases the competitive edge of enterprises, especially that of small- and medium-sized enterprises;
- it encourages authors and inventors who come up with works and creations suitable for protecting intellectual property rights;
- it reduces the rate of black economy, which involves an increase in budgetary revenues, the whitening of employment, and the prevention of recycling counterfeiting-related, illegal income into criminal actions;
- it provides for an increased protection of consumers, thus it promotes that false products endangering the health and the bodily integrity of consumers should be squeezed out of the market;
- it promotes the flow of working capital, strengthens investor confidence and improves the favourable international reputation of Hungary in the field of law enforcement;
- it promotes the strengthening of the cultural industry and the preservation of cultural diversity.