European Commission Publishes Annual Report on EU Customs Actions to Enforce Intellectual Property Rights

 

In 2009, EU Customs took action in 43,500 cases involving several million products suspected of being counterfeited or pirated at the external borders of the EU. This is according to the Commission's annual report on EU Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), which was published on 22 July 2010. Cigarettes, clothing and brand labels were among the main articles stopped by customs on suspicion of IPR infringements. However, products for daily use and posing a potential danger to citizens' health, such as shampoos, toothpaste, toys, medicines or household appliances, also accounted for a significant part.

 

The Report shows an upward trend in the number of goods suspected of violating intellectual property rights. In 2009, over 43,500 cases of such goods were stopped by customs, totalling 118 million articles. The report notes that, while in the past luxury goods were the most hit by IPR infringements, more and more items used by citizens in their daily lives are now affected. Of the top categories detained, cigarettes accounted for 19%, other tobacco products 16%, labels 13% and medicines 10%. China continued to be the main source of IPR infringing products, totalling 64% of the total of IPR infringing articles while other countries such as United Arab Emirates and Egypt accounted for the majority in certain product categories. More than 77% of all detained products were destroyed or a court case was initiated to determine the infringement.

 

 

 

 

Breakdown of number of articles detained expressed as % by provenance and by category (2009)

 

1. Foodstuffs, alcoholic and other beverages	57.36% Turkey	26.04%  USA	6.28%  Uruguay	5.07%  China	2.86%  Tunisia	2.39%  Others
2. Body care items	46.81%  China	21.35%  UAE10	13.38%  Italy	8.17%  Turkey	3.91%  Syria	3.04%  Indonesia	1.91%  Hong Kong	1.40%  Others
3. Clothing and accessories	72.48%  China	6.45%  Turkey	5.40%  Poland	4.07%  Estonia	2.01%  Russia	1.44%  Germany	1.35%  Greece	1.33%  Thailand	5.47%  Others
4. Shoes including parts and accessories	90.18%  China	2.74%  Singapore	2.30%  Greece	1.17%      UAE	3.61%  Others
5. Personal accessories	74.38%  China	9.49%  Morocco	5.62%  Hong Kong	3.20%  Unknown	2.50%  Thailand	1.32%  Greece	1.15%  Malaysia	2.34%  Others
6. Mobile phones incl. parts and accessories	79.06%  China	12.94%  Hong Kong	4.44%      UAE	1.98%  Pakistan	1.58%  Others
7. Electrical / electronic and computer equipment	81.01%  China	14.06%  Hong Kong	1.51%  Israel	1.18%      UAE	2.24%  Others
8. CD, DVD, cassettes, game cartridges	34.58%  China	32.19%  Taiwan	30.90%  UAE	2.33%  Others
9. Toys, games (incl. electronic game consoles) and sporting articles	63.42%  Egypt	31.77%  China	2.69%  Hong Kong	1.24%      UAE	0.82%  Others
10. Tobacco products	68.30%  China	15.92%  UAE	11.30%  Cyprus	1.44%  Greece	1.26%  India	1.78%  Others
11. Medical products	73.71%  UAE	22.60%  India	1.41%  China	1.31%    Syria	0.97%  Others
12. Other	92.34%  China	2.05%   Hong Kong	1.49%      UAE	4.13%  Others

 

(Source: the official website of European Commission)