Counterfeit sports products already account for 34% of the market, says an industry representative
- Apr 29
- 2 min read
The fashion industry is one of the hardest-hit sectors
Counterfeit sports products already account for 34% of the Brazilian market, according to Renato Jardim, executive director of the Association for the Sports Industry and Commerce (Ápice). He participated in a public hearing at the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday (28).
According to the representative of the sports industry and trade, 225 million counterfeit items were sold in Brazil last year, which is estimated to have caused a loss of R$ 32 billion to legitimate businesses.
But the counterfeiting of sports apparel and footwear also causes losses for the government and the rest of society, said Renato Jardim. He stated that the government failed to collect R$ 7 billion in taxes in 2025 alone, and 60,000 formal jobs were not created in the production of these goods alone.
E-commerce: Like other participants in the debate, Renato Jardim argued that the sale of counterfeit products has intensified with online commerce, which poses new challenges for combating the problem.
“In the case of the sports sector, something that in the past was closely tied to the physical market is increasingly shifting to online commerce. And naturally, online commerce brings additional challenges and problems compared to what we faced when it was limited to the physical market: dispersion and fragmentation are much greater, and this makes monitoring and enforcement much more difficult,” he said.
Edmundo Lima, executive director of the Brazilian Textile Retail Association, stated that the fashion sector is one of the hardest hit, not only by piracy but mainly by unequal competition with international e-commerce platforms. According to him, Brazilian companies pay twice as much in taxes as their international competitors.
This situation, in Edmundo Lima’s view, exacerbates the problem of trade in counterfeit goods, because international websites sell merchandise of unknown origin without any oversight.
As coordinator of the External Commission on Piracy, Representative Julio Lopes (PP-RJ) suggested that participants in the debate monitor the illegal trade in their brands and send the results to the commission so that those responsible can be notified and held accountable by the Procons.
“Starting in May, through the External Committee of Brasil Legal, we will be notifying all influencers who are teaching, encouraging, or promoting the illegal or counterfeit sale of products and services, so that we can notify not only these institutions and platforms but also those who participate in them.”
Representatives from major online commerce platforms defended themselves against the accusations, stating that they take every possible measure to combat illegal trade. According to Lailla Malaquias, Government Relations Manager at the Brazilian Association of Mobility and Technology, with the creation of the Federal Revenue Service’s “Remessa Conforme” program in 2023, the international e-commerce sector is already subject to “robust oversight.”
The spokesperson for the association, which represents companies such as Amazon, Shein, and AliExpress in Brazil, assured that the compliance rate for the more than 10 million packages entering the country each month is above 98%.
Source: Agência Câmara de Notícias
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