EU customs seized 35.5m counterfeits last year, report reveals
Fake cigarettes, toys, and medicines were among the largest number of counterfeit products recovered by European customs authorities last year.
In total, more than 35.5 million individual infringing products valued at more than €617 million ($676 million) were seized by the authorities in 2014, according to a report called “Report on EU customs enforcement of intellectual property rights” published by the European Commission on Tuesday, October 27.
Cigarettes accounted for 35% of the total counterfeit products recovered.
The figures are down on the previous year, where authorities had recovered 35.9 million individual fake items at an overall value of €768 million.
China topped the list as the source of infringing products entering the EU, accounting for approximately 80% of all counterfeit products entering the continent, followed by Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and India.
Pierre Moscovici, commissioner for economic and financial affairs, taxation and customs, said: “The protection of IP should be a priority if we are serious about promoting innovation and creativity within the EU.
“This is also key for the health and safety of European consumers and job creation. Our customs authorities carry out vital front line work in fighting against the import of counterfeit goods and the infringement of IP rights,” he added.
At the beginning of this year, regulation 608/2013, which strengthens rights for customs authorities in tackling counterfeit products, went into effect. The new laws allowed customs to destroy a product it believes is counterfeit without the need to go through litigation.
