Seizing counterfeit goods

OLAF on track!

OLAF investigated imports into the European Union of counterfeit bearings coming from China, breaching Intellectual Property Rights and posing a major risk for consumer safety.

Bearings are highly engineered, precision-made components which enable machinery to move efficiently and safely at high speed whilst carrying significant loads. They can be found in various applications ranging from trains to refrigerators.

Counterfeit bearings are extremely dangerous because they are of an inferior quality and therefore can break, which can lead to the unexpected failure of a machine and even human injury.

In a concerted effort to prevent the import of such dangerous items into the EU, OLAF coordinated activities of several EU Member States, tipping them also off about companies suspected of illegal trade in counterfeit bearings. This action led to the seizures of 35 930 pieces of counterfeit bearings (more than 13 tonnes) in: Belgium, Bulgaria France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

One example in Spain highlights how important the operation was in protecting citizens' safety. It transpired that one of the suspect companies sent counterfeit ball bearings to a Spanish importer company, which then sold them to Spanish railway public company for the use on their rolling stock.

Thanks to OLAF support, the Spanish Customs and Spanish Police seized the 160 ball bearings during a raid on the Spanish importer before they could be used on the Spanish railway.

Game over!

Representatives of OLAF and the Polish Customs and Tax Service inspected toy outlets housed in a business centre near Warsaw and identified thousands of suspected counterfeit items, which displayed fake registered trademarks of well-known toy companies and fake CE marks.

Further inspections revealed that, in the back room of one of the outlets, workers were packaging the counterfeit toys in individual boxes for display and were adding stickers with a bar code and fraudulent CE mark to make it appear that the toys met all EU requirements and were therefore deemed safe for children to use.

Analysis in a laboratory on a toy which was aimed at young children confirmed the presence of an excessive amount of harmful chemical substances (Phthalates), which can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs, and the reproductive system.

The joint raids carried out by OLAF and the Polish Tax and Customs Administration resulted in the seizure of over 20 000 counterfeit toys with an approximate value of around €250 000.