Counterfeit meaning: what counterfeit goods are, with examples from across Africa

What counterfeit means

Dictionary.com defines counterfeit, as an adjective, as "made in imitation so as to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine". The key idea is intent. A counterfeit is made to fool you into thinking it came from someone else.

• As an adjective: counterfeit money, counterfeit milk, a counterfeit cream.
• As a noun: a counterfeit is the copy itself.
• As a verb: to counterfeit something is to make a fraudulent copy of it.
• Counterfeiting is the act or business of making and selling these copies.

The word is old. Dictionary.com dates it to 1250 to 1300, from the Middle English "countrefet", meaning false or forged. It comes through Old French from the Latin "facere", to make.

What counterfeit means in law

In trade law, counterfeit is tied to trademarks. The World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement, the global treaty on intellectual property in trade, defines counterfeit trademark goods as goods, including their packaging, that carry a trademark without permission.

That trademark must be identical to one validly registered for those goods, or impossible to tell apart from it in its essential parts. Such goods infringe the trademark owner's rights under the law of the importing country.

TRIPS uses a separate term, pirated copyright goods, for unauthorised copies of things protected by copyright, such as books, films and music.

African countries also have their own laws and agencies. South Africa's Counterfeit Goods Act 37 of 1997 protects the owners of trademarks and copyright, and lets inspectors and police search for and seize counterfeit goods. Kenya has an Anti-Counterfeit Authority, which describes counterfeit goods as products made or sold under the disguise of an original product.

This is why a registered trademark matters to a brand. Our guide on how to protect your product from counterfeiters covers trademark registration.

Counterfeit, fake, falsified, substandard, imitation and grey-market goods

Fake

Fake is the everyday word. It covers counterfeits, but people also use it for anything that is not what it claims to be. When you search "fake and original", you are usually asking how to spot a counterfeit.

Falsified

Falsified is the World Health Organization's term for medical products that deliberately or fraudulently misrepresent their identity, composition or source. WHO replaced older terms, including "counterfeit", partly because they mixed up public health with the protection of intellectual property.

Substandard

WHO defines substandard products as authorised products that fail their quality standards, their specifications, or both. The cause is usually poor manufacturing or weak quality control, not an attempt to deceive. In 2017, WHO estimated that 1 in 10 medicines in low- and middle-income countries failed quality control tests.

Unregistered

WHO calls a medical product unregistered or unlicensed when the national or regional regulator has not evaluated or approved it for that market. Each country has its own regulator: NAFDAC in Nigeria, the Food and Drugs Authority in Ghana, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in Kenya, SAHPRA in South Africa, TMDA in Tanzania and the National Drug Authority in Uganda.

Imitation

An imitation, or lookalike, copies the style of a known product but sells under its own name. It is not counterfeit in the TRIPS sense when it does not carry the brand's trademark or something that cannot be told apart from it. Whether a lookalike breaks the law depends on how close it comes to the registered trademark.

Grey-market goods

The International Trademark Association describes grey-market goods, also called parallel imports, as branded goods made for one market and sold in another without the trademark owner's consent. They are real products, not counterfeits.

INTA notes that they may have been formulated or packaged for a different market and may not carry the manufacturer's warranty. Whether selling them is legal depends on each country's rules.

Examples from across Africa

• Counterfeit, Nigeria: in January 2025, NAFDAC found over 240 shops in Aba's Cemetery Market turned into factories making copies of soft drinks, spirits and milk in cloned packaging and dirty recycled bottles.
• Counterfeit, Tanzania: in August 2025, TMDA found fake liquid Dettol being made in a guesthouse in Kahama town. The fake bottles had caps without the lock that joins them to the ring below, and labels that peeled off easily.
• Falsified, Ghana: in April 2026, the Food and Drugs Authority warned about fake VISITECT CD4 test kits used in HIV care. The fake kits named the wrong manufacturer and carried different manufacturing and expiry dates from the original kits.
• Falsified, South Africa: in September 2025, SAHPRA said weight-loss medicines, sexual enhancers and skin-bleaching products were among the falsified products common in the country.
• Real product, false date, Nigeria: the Aba raid also found expired Hollandia Yoghurt stockpiled for revalidation. The yoghurt was real, but its new date would be false.

How to spot a counterfeit product

Counterfeits are made to pass a quick look. Take your time, and compare the product with one you know came from the brand:

• The seal and cap: missing, loose, torn, glued back down or shaped differently.
• The print: blurred text, wrong colours, spelling mistakes, old artwork or a label that peels off.
• The batch number and dates: smudged, in a different place from usual, or on a sticker. See how to read a batch number and expiry date.
• The registration number: missing, or not matching the product when you search the regulator's list. In Nigeria, see how to verify a NAFDAC number.
• The price and the seller: far cheaper than other shops, or a seller you cannot trace.
• The product itself: a smell, taste, colour or texture that is different from usual.

Why the difference matters to you

Regulators, courts and companies use these words with care. NAFDAC, Ghana's Food and Drugs Authority and Kenya's Pharmacy and Poisons Board all use the WHO terms substandard and falsified in their alerts. For you, the label matters less than the result: a counterfeit, falsified, substandard, unregistered or re-dated product can all harm your health.

The problem is global. The OECD and the EU Intellectual Property Office estimated trade in counterfeit goods at USD 467 billion in 2021, in a report published in May 2025. They said hazardous fakes, including medicines, cosmetics, toys and food, were becoming more common.

Whatever word fits, if you think a product is not what it claims to be, do not use it. Keep it, and report it to the regulator in your country.

Where to report a counterfeit

• Nigeria: NAFDAC, on 0800-162-3322 or [email protected]. Website: nafdac.gov.ng.
• Ghana: the Food and Drugs Authority, on 0551112224 or 0244310297, or at the nearest FDA office. Website: fdaghana.gov.gh.
• Kenya: the Pharmacy and Poisons Board for medicines, at pv.pharmacyboardkenya.org. For other goods, use the Report Counterfeits form of the Anti-Counterfeit Authority at aca.go.ke.
• South Africa: SAHPRA for medicines, on its 24-hour hotline 0800 204 307. Website: sahpra.org.za.
• Tanzania: TMDA, at sqrt.tmda.go.tz, by dialling *152*00#, or at a TMDA office. Website: tmda.go.tz.
• Uganda: the National Drug Authority, on the toll-free line 0800 101 999 or on WhatsApp at 0740 002 070. Website: nda.or.ug.

For medicines, read what fake drugs are and fake medicines in Africa. For everyday goods, see fake and original skincare and fake food and drinks.