EU Sees Increase in Seizures of Counterfeit Imports

European Union customs authorities seized about 10,000 more imports of counterfeit goods in 2018 compared with the previous year due to an increase in “small parcels in express and postal traffic,” the European Commission said Sept. 19. The seizures of the counterfeit imports, or items that infringed on intellectual property rights, included mostly cigarettes, toys, packaging material, labels and clothing, the commission said. China was the “main source” of the seized imports, which increased from about 57,000 in 2017 to 69,000 in 2018.

The job of EU customs officers “is made even more difficult by the rise in small packages entering the EU through online sales,” Pierre Moscovici, commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said in a statement. “We need to continue stepping up the efforts against counterfeiting and piracy."