MichiganRadio

Counterfeit College ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) -

Michigan State University's school of criminal justice has launched the nation's first anti-counterfeiting program. The program will research the causes and incidents of product counterfeiting.

One project will create a database of counterfeiting incidents to help develop anti-counterfeiting strategies and train government officials to fight the crime.

Jeremy Wilson heads the new anti-counterfeiting program. He says government agencies and businesses don't necessarily have the information they need about products being produced.

"Were providing sort of an independent space for these companies to come to where they can get objective analysis by experts who are already doing work in related areas, but can now apply that to the counterfeiting problem specifically," says Wilson.

Wilson says an estimated 600 billion dollars in trade are affected by counterfeit pharmaceuticals, auto parts and luxury goods. © Copyright 2012, Michigan Radio