BRUSSELS: European customs dealt with 95,000 cases of intercepted articles violating the EU’s Intellectual Property Rights rules. The total number of articles intercepted stood at 36 million, and had a total value of €617 million. The largest number of articles (69% of total) were stopped at Europe’s ports, even while making up only 3% of total cases. China remains the source of the largest number of goods by volume and value, while the greatest number of interceptions occurred in Germany. The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) legislation in Europe is part of the regions’ move to create a genuine Single Market in Europe.
The EU wide IPR places restrictions on the freedom of movement and anti-competitive practices, while creating an environment not only favourable to creativity, innovation and investment, but also for developing employment and improving fair competitiveness. Enforcement by customs is a key aspect of the IPR, with the Commission and Member States engaging in the practice of detaining goods that violate the IPR and in many cases, destroying them. An analysis by Consultancy.uk on data released by the European Commission reveals that annually companies are losing millions in foregone revenues as a result of the import of counterfeit, or fake products.
