Dive Brief:

• In an ongoing effort to right its reputation for selling counterfeit goods, Alibaba on Monday criticized “ambiguities in the law” that make it difficult for law enforcement officers to “classify and quantify cases of counterfeiting, let alone commence legal proceedings,” according to a statement from the Chinese e-commerce giant emailed to Retail Dive.

• Alibaba Group officials held a press conference Monday in Hangzhou, China to issue a public appeal calling for improvements to laws and heavier penalties against those involved with counterfeiting. “To date, many of those involved in counterfeiting have escaped sanction, shown by an extremely low conviction rate,” the company said.

• Alibaba also touted its own data-based investigations of fraudulent sales, which officials say has led to raids by law enforcement followed by poor conviction rates and soft sentences. “Criminals can escape any legal consequence, leaving law enforcement agents and consumers feeling helpless, and society bearing the damage,” Jessie Zheng, Alibaba Group's chief platform governance officer, said in a statement emailed to Retail Dive.

Dive Insight:

When United States Trade Representative Michael Froman in December relisted Taobao on its roster of so-called Notorious Markets for 2016, officials from parent Alibaba reacted with disappointment and said the move runs counter to its actual efforts to stymie counterfeit sales. Alibaba Group president Michael Evans at that time went so far as to assign political motivations to the USTR’s move following President-elect Donald Trump's criticisms of China over currency manipulation and other matters.

“Unfortunately, the USTR’s decision leads us to question whether the USTR acted based on the actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate,” Evans told Retail Dive in a statement last month regarding the announcement. “Nevertheless, the decision sends the wrong message and is inconsistent with the effective collaborative approach we have taken with brands and governments around the world in our fight against counterfeiting.”

Evans and others have also touted Alibaba's anti-counterfeit measures, including its “big data” tech operations, and said such efforts played a significant role in the company’s investigation into and subsequent lawsuit against two watch sellers on its Taobao marketplace, alleging sales of fake Swarovski watches and claiming RMB 1.4 million (about $2 million U.S.) in damages for contract and goodwill violations.

In Monday’s public appeal, Alibaba called for “collective efforts in the fight against counterfeiting that include stronger law enforcement measures" as well as harsher penalties for "individuals carrying out these illegal actions."

Alibaba must continue to amp up its anti-counterfeiting measures if it hopes to get Taobao off the USTR’s list and, perhaps even more important, win back the trust of brands. Last year several high-profile brands complained that counterfeits remain rife on Alibaba's sites, and that Alibaba’s systems to lodge complaints are cumbersome and ineffective. Global trade groups also lobbied the USTR to return Alibaba to the Notorious Markets List.