E-commerce giant Amazon has expanded its anti-counterfeit programme Project Zero to seven more countries, including Singapore, as part of an ongoing effort to fight the sale of counterfeit products on its platform.

Brands or owners of trademarks registered in the countries covered by Project Zero can use a self-service tool to directly remove listings from Amazon's online stores - a key feature of the programme.

"Amazon is committed to protecting our customers and the brands we collaborate with worldwide," Mr Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon's vice-president of worldwide customer trust and partner support, said in a statement yesterday.

The programme, launched in February last year, is now available in a total of 17 countries, including the United States, Japan and Germany.

Each day, Project Zero uses machine learning technologies to scan more than five billion listings of products - including those from 10,000 registered brands such as BMW, Panasonic and Salvatore Ferragamo - to detect and block counterfeit ones.

Brands provide Amazon with key data points about themselves - such as logos and trademarks - to aid in the process.

An upcoming feature, which may involve paying a fee, allows brands to apply unique serial numbers on products for better tracking.

It is not known when this feature will be available in Singapore.

"Project Zero has been a leap forward in protecting brands, especially for those that use all three of its components," said Mr Mehta.

To be eligible for this service, brands must have submitted reports of "potential infringements with an acceptance rate of at least 90 per cent" in the past six months, said Amazon.

The company did not say how many counterfeit listings it detects daily with Project Zero.

Some observers questioned if the programme will give brand owners the power to remove listings from parallel importers.

Technology and intellectual property lawyer Koh Chia Ling said the self-service tool has the potential to be abused by brand owners and has to be policed by Amazon. "Lawfully modified parallel imports may also be the subject of complaints by brand owners. The self-help system might tilt in favour of brand owners in this regard."

He added that Project Zero is likely to speed up the process for trademark owners to protect their rights, but the average consumer may not notice much of a difference immediately.

Amazon says on its website that brands must maintain an accuracy rating of at least 99 per cent when using the self-service removal tool in order to maintain their Project Zero privileges. But it is not clear how accuracy is determined.

According to the 2018 Global Brand Counterfeiting Report, global sales of counterfeits are projected to reach US$1.82 trillion (S$2.5 trillion) this year, with e-commerce accounting for a quarter of that number.

Project Zero's expansion follows Amazon's establishment of a Counterfeit Crimes Unit in June to work with law enforcement officials to locate and prosecute counterfeiters.