Counterfeiting: the Commission welcomes the adoption of a new regulation to strengthen customs action

The European Commission welcomed the adoption by the EU Council of Ministers of a regulation to combat counterfeiting and piracy. The regulation, which will enter into force on 1 July 2004 and replace the existing regulation (3295/94/EC), sets out the conditions under which the customs authorities may intervene where goods are suspected of infringing intellectual property rights. The new regulation gives greater legal clarity, extends its scope to new intellectual property rights, makes the rules more accessible for right holders and is a powerful legal instrument to tackle this kind of fraud more effectively.

"I welcome the speedy adoption of this new anti-fraud instrument only six months after presentation of the proposal by the Commission," said Frits Bolkestein, European Commissioner for customs. "Counterfeiting and piracy are a threat to innovation and creativity. They currently account for between 5% and 7% of international trade and damage to the Community is estimated at over 2 billion euros. This type of fraud no longer concerns only luxury goods and often constitutes a real danger to consumers when medicines or food products are involved. Action by customs has already led to significant results but our efforts must continue and the new regulation will be of considerable help."

Drafted in close cooperation with right holders and associations, the new regulation introduces significant changes over the previous one:

The scope is extended to other intellectual property rights in order to protect consumers more effectively. Statistics show that there are as many counterfeit food products as textile products. It was therefore essential to include geographical indications, designations of origin and plant variety rights.

Applications for action submitted to customs authorities will be free of charge and their form and the information required will be standardised, with validity extended to one year. This will be of particular benefit to SMEs.

The destruction of counterfeit products will be speeded up and facilitated in specific cases. This will be of benefit notably where goods presenting a risk for the health and safety of consumers are concerned. It will also enable SMEs to avoid costly and repetitive procedures.

The new legal instrument should enable the customs authorities, in close cooperation with right holders, to improve checks at external borders and protect consumers and the EU economic area more effectively.

The massive escalation in the number of counterfeit or pirated articles intercepted at the EU's external frontiers (there was a ninefold increase between 1998 and 2001, from 10 million articles to 100 million articles) was confirmed by the 2002 statistics and the figures obtained for the first half of 2003. The trends observed show that these illegal activities are increasingly linked to organised crime or terrorist organisations. All this led the Council to strongly support the Commission proposal and ensure its rapid adoption.

All kinds of goods are now targeted by counterfeiters, in most cases the most ordinary, common products whose right holders are often small and medium sized enterprises. One of the priorities of the new regulation is to give them simplified, low-cost access to customs action to combat counterfeiting and piracy.

(Source: European Commission Press Release IP/03/1059 dated July 22, 2003)


The new Regulation (as submitted to the Council for adoption on 22 July 2003) - PDF