In 2019, European Union (EU) customs seized counterfeit products with a retail value of more than 760 million euros at the region’s external borders, according to a new report published on Thursday by the European Commission.
While this figure represents an increase in value of 20 million euros compared to 2018, the number of arrests increased by more than 30% in the same period.
This annual report provides an overview of the work carried out by EU customs officials, responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR), at the external borders of the EU.
In total, in 2019, the customs authorities of the member states made more than 90,000 seizures of goods that infringed intellectual property rights, consisting of almost 41 million individual items (an increase of 53% compared to the previous year ).
«Innovation and creativity are the engines of our economy and holders of intellectual property rights must be assured that their inventions and trademarks will be protected,» the EU said in a statement.
Customs
The competitiveness of European companies also depends on this certainty. At the same time, counterfeit products pose a threat to the safety of EU consumers.
EU customs authorities play a comprehensive and unique role in enforcing these rules at the external borders.
Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for the Economy, said: «Counterfeit products not only affect legitimate businesses, they are also a threat to the health, safety and protection of our citizens and consumers. The European Commission remains committed to the fight against this illegal activity and supports Member States in their efforts to prevent the entry of counterfeit products into our single market.»
Seized products
The report highlights that the main categories of goods seized by customs: cigarettes (21.3%) and packaging material (13.6%), counterfeit matches (20%) have been added this year, while toys (9.6%) and clothing (3.9 percent).
In terms of detention procedures, the main categories are sports clothing and shoes, while perfumes and cosmetics are in third place this year. In 85% of customs seizures, the goods were ultimately destroyed.
Reported quantity and estimated value of detained items in the UE internal market
Regarding the origin of these counterfeit products, China is the main country of origin in terms of the number (33%) and value (56%) of the seized products.
As in previous years, Turkey and Hong Kong remain in the top seven in both terms. Pakistan (for matches) and Moldova (for cigarette packaging material) were first in terms of number of items, and Morocco (for watches), Senegal (for clothing) and Serbia (for tobacco) in terms of value.
Mail and courier traffic together accounted for 85% of all arrest cases. The individual items detained in the postal traffic categories were mainly consumer items ordered through e-commerce, for example shoes, clothing and toys.
Counterfeit everyday products that are potentially dangerous to the health and safety of consumers, such as food and beverages, body care items, drugs, household electrical items and toys, remain a problem and account for 15 , 6% of the total amount of detained individual items.
