On December 12-13 of current year, with the support of Europol, within the project EMPACT - European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats, co-hosted by the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia and the NAS Carabinieri of the Republic of Italy, the conference EMPACT IPCCGC / OPSON XIII on Counterfeit Food and Geographical Indications was held in Tbilisi.

During the conference, delegates from around 100 countries (including Great Britain, the USA, almost all European Union member states), representatives of international organizations (European Commission, European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), World Customs Organization (WCO), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and others.) and private organizations (Amazon, Bordeaux Wine Council, Barilla and others.) shared their existing experience, exchanged information and discussed new approaches on fighting and preventing crimes of intellectual property rights infringement, counterfeiting of products and money.

Within the first day of the conference, the results of the operation OPSON XII were summarized and the issues of the future agenda were outlined, with the official launch of the new operation OPSON XIII. The format of the conference included both general discussions and thematic presentations on various topics. The second day of the conference was dedicated to the operational action of the EMPACT project related to the fight against the food fraud.