THE VALUE of counterfeit products traded in Europe is estimated at over 400 billion euros, according to the EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner, Laszlo Kovacs, who warned illegal trade is serious and growing.
Revealing the 2003 figures in Brussels yesterday, the Commissioner described pirate and counterfeit goods as “a relatively new but rapidly growing form of organised crime.” Not only is money lost, he noted, but the health of citizens is threatened.
The EU’s customs officials seized almost 100 million pirate or counterfeit articles at its external borders in 2003 (before enlargement), compared with 85 million the previous year. There estimated value is one billion euros.
However, Kovacs said this figure is only “the tip of the iceberg” as according to some assessments counterfeit trade is about five to seven per cent of the total volume traded internationally.
He called for “many more concrete actions” by member states if the EU and the world are to be protected from this threat to safety and the economy.
To press the point that counterfeit goods bear no obvious difference to the original products, the Commissioner produced telephones, computer ink and washing powder packaged exactly the same. He also showed three pictures of a specific petrol station bearing the logo of the original but selling pirate produce, of which the two were in states negotiating their EU membership.
The Commissioner underlined that criminals have the skills, the knowledge and the money to produce perfectly presented fake goods. He also clarified there was nothing that could be done against consumers who buy them, mostly without being aware they are not original.
The main concern to the EU is the increase in counterfeit children’s toys, 12 million seizures in 2003 representing a 996 per cent increase over 2002, while there was a 77 per cent increase for food products and medicines in the same period.
Even counterfeit Viagra has been found, the Commission said, while it noted that there was less smuggling of tobacco than of the fake DVDs, cassettes and CDs that top the list.
While the 2004 statistics have not yet been completed, the information received for the fist nine months shows that more than 16,000 counterfeit cases were discovered compared with 7,000 for the same period the previous years. The Commissioner noted the results so far show that the customs authorities of the new member stated have been very active.
As from where they come from, 70 per cent of the amount of counterfeit and pirated goods seized by customs authorities in 2003 originated in Asia, the large majority from China (60 per cent). The Commission hopes an agreement on customs co-operation and mutual administrative assistance it recently signed with Chin will help the fight against fraud and counterfeiting.
