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Customs Union: Fake and potentially dangerous goods worth nearly EUR 740 million stopped at EU customs in 2018

New figures released by the European Commission on 18 September show that the number of interceptions of fake goods being imported into the EU increased in 2018 due to a large number of small parcels in express and postal traffic.

date:  26/09/2019

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Detention figures for seized consignments jumped from 57,433 in 2017 to 69,354 in 2018, though the total number of articles detained decreased compared to previous years. Almost 27 million articles that infringed on intellectual property rights (IPR) were detained in 2018 with a street value of nearly EUR 740 million. Cigarettes topped the list, accounting for 15% of all detained articles. This was followed by toys (14%), packaging material (9%), labels, tags and stickers (9%) and clothing (8%). Products for daily personal use in the home such as body care articles, medicines, toys and electrical household goods accounted for nearly 37% of the total number of detained articles. China continued to be the main source country for goods infringing intellectual property rights.