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Commission initiatives for fighting counterfeit and other IPR infringements
The European Commission and EU Member States are fighting counterfeit and other intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements on various fronts. At strategic level a Customs Action Plan was adopted by the EU Council in 2009 to effectively combat illicit trade.
Action Plan to combat intellectual property rights infringements
On March 16th 2009 the EU Council adopted a Resolution on the EU Customs Action Plan to combat intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements for the years 2009-2012. It includes about fifty targeted measures to be developed by the Commission and/or the Members States focusing on:
- improving and where necessary modifying, existing IPR legislation;
- strengthening operational cooperation between customs in the EU and with third countries;
- improving cooperation with right holders;
- developing further international cooperation on IPR enforcement;
- improving publicity and awareness and
- responding to the problem of Internet sales and delivering ad hoc training to customs officers.
In line with the Council Resolution, the Plan foresees, among others
- the review of customs legislation resulting in the Commission Proposal for a new Regulation to reinforce customs actions in fighting trade of IPR infringing goods;
- the annual publication of statistics on customs detentions registered at the external border of the EU.
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of 16 March 2009.
Unionfor the Mediterranean joint customs operation 'Sirocco'
Around 40 million cigarettes, 1 243 kg of hand-rolled tobacco, 7 038 litres of alcohol and 8 million other counterfeit items including clothing, shoes, toys and electronics, were seized or detained during joint customs operation 'Sirocco'. The operation was initiated by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Commission's Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union, and co-ordinated by OLAF. 'Sirocco' was a joint project carried out in June 2010 by the EU and 11 partner countries from the Union for the Mediterranean. The final results were made public on 1 October 2010. For further information see the press release (IP/10/1275 ) and the questions and answers (MEMO/10/466 ).
Dialogue between customs administrations of the EU and pharmaceutical companies
A meeting took place on 14 September 2009 between the European Commission, customs experts representing the Member States of the EU and private representatives of the European pharmaceutical sector. For further information read the Joint Statement (pdf 21 Kb)(21 Kb).
Anti-counterfeiting workshop of customs experts on semiconductors (21-22 September 2009)
For the first time representatives of all six major semiconductor producing regions met to tackle the problems posed by counterfeit semiconductor products. On 21-22 September 2009, customs experts from China, Chinese Taipei, the European Union, Japan, Korea and the United States convened in Korea together with their respective industries and trade ministry officials. See the details in the report "Semiconductor producers address counterfeiting (pdf 10 Kb)(10 Kb) ".
Joint Customs Operation "INFRASTRUCTURE"
Operation INFRASTRUCTURE resulted in the seizure of over 360,000 counterfeit integrated circuits bearing over 40 different trademarks. It was the first Intellectual property Rights (IPR) enforcement operation undertaken by the European Union and the United States' Customs and Border Protection.
At their 2006 Summit, the EU and the United States committed to implementing the "EU-US Action Strategy for the Enforcement of IPR." This operation, targeting counterfeit semiconductors (integrated circuits) and computer networking equipment implemented the "joint IPR border enforcement action" portion of the strategy as agreed to by the EU and US. These products were selected for the joint operation because they present safety and security risks in addition to IPR infringement risk. For more details see the press release (pdf 68 Kb)(68 Kb) .