Illegal Products

The regulation on a single market for digital services or digital services act  proposed by the European Commission in 2020 would extend the scope of potential violations for spreading illegal content to include illegal products.Though not yet clearly defined, these products would likely fall into two categories: goods that infringe intellectual property rights, such as counterfeit and pirated articles; and dangerous or non-legally compliant goods, such as endangered species or explosives.

To date, online trade in these areas has been managed through a process of “self-regulation” similar to the ones that already govern Internet activities in problem places such as hate speech and the fight against terrorism. As regards illegal goods, two multistakeholder agreements sit at the centre of the system:

There is also a well-developed legal infrastructure for dealing with trade in illegal products, including the general product safety directive (2001), the regulation concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals (2012), the directive on combating terrorism (2017) and the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES).

But despite this plethora of initiatives, there is still no standard definition for what does or does not constitute a “counterfeit” or “pirated” good in the EU. The regulation on customs enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRs) infringements, for one, defines counterfeit goods as goods that infringe on trademark or geographical indications. But in other agreements to which the EU is signatory and which the EU routinely uses as a basis for its own rulemaking, such as the World Trade Organisation agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS), counterfeit goods are defined as goods that infringe on trademarks only. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union Intellectual Property Office have an even broader definition. In Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods, the OECD and EUIPO include in the definition of counterfeit “goods that infringe trademarks, design rights or patents.”


 

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Amount of Listings Removed as a Result of an Alleged Infringement of the Right Owners' IPR (2016-2019)

The chart presents the key performance indicators for monitoring the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on Sale of Counterfeit Goods, over the period 2016 - 2019. The results of the report show that the platforms’ pro-active measures are the main driver for the amount of listings removed, as they accounted for 98% of the listings removed in 2019 (12% increase since 2016).
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Cases of Products Detentions at the European Union Borders, 2017 - 2020

This chart shows the number of cases of products detentions at the European Union boders the period 2017-2020, based on the results of the EUIPO report "EU Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: Results at the EU Border and in the EU Internal Market 2020," published in December 2021. The results show that the number of cases has declined in 2020 by almost 25%, reaching a similar level to the one in 2018.
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Categories of Dangerous Counterfeit Goods Imported into the European Union

The chart presents the share of different types of dangerous goods destined to European Union member states, in the period 2017 - 2019, based on the OECD and the European Union Intellectual Property Office report "Dangerous Fakes: Trade in Counterfeit Goods that Pose Health, Safety and Environmental Risks," published in March 2022. Except for the data refering to first three categories of dangerous goods, which are mentioned in the report, the values for the other type of dangerous goods are not explicitely displayed in the source, therefore most of the value of data in this chart are approximate, determined with pixel count. European Union refers to EU28. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020.
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Counterfeit (or Potentially Counterfeit) Products out of Total Alerted Products, 2010 - 2017

This chart shows the number of fake products identified as couterfeit or potentially counterfeit within the total number of alerted products, in the European Union over the period 2010-2017, based on the results of the EUIPO report "Qualitative Study on Risks Posed by Counterfeits to Consumers," published in June 2019. The study uses the data from the European Commission Rapid Alert System For Dangerous Non-Food Products (RAPEX) reported by market surveillance authorities in the period 2010-2017.
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Countries of Provenance of Counterfeit Items Seized at the European Union Borders by Number of Articles (2020)

The chart presents the distribution of the countries of provenience for the counterfeit items seized at the European Union external border in 2020, by number of articles detained, based on the results of the report "Intellectual Property Crime: Threat Assessment 2022," published in March 2022 by EUIPO and Europol. The data shows that China (including Hong Kong) was the main country of origin for IPR-infringing goods seized at the EU’s external border, followed by Greece and Turkey.
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Countries of Provenance of Counterfeit Items Seized at the European Union Borders by Value (2020)

The chart presents the distribution of the countries of provenience for the counterfeit items detained at the European Union external border in 2020, by the value of seizures, based on the results of the report "Intellectual Property Crime: Threat Assessment 2022," published in March 2022 by EUIPO and Europol. The data shows that China (including Hong Kong) was the main country of origin for IPR-infringing goods seized at the EU’s external border, followed by Turkey and Singapore.
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Direct Employment Loss Due To Infringement in Selected IPR-Intensive Industries in the European Union (2013-2017)

The chart presents on overview of estimated direct economic costs of infringement in selected IPR-intensive industries in the European Union, over the period 2013-2017. The results of the EUIPO report show that counterfeiting and piracy significantly impact the clothing, footware and accessories industries, accounting for 63% of direct employment losses in this area. European Union refers to EU28. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020.
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Distribution of Conveyance Methods for Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals (2014-2016)

The chart presents the distribution of transport modes for counterfeit pharmaceutical, based on the data from the OECD/EUIPO study on illicit trade in fake pharmaceuticals, published in 2020. The report builds on previous analyses of illicit trade, focusing on trade of counterfeit pharmaceuticals. In addition to possible economic damages for the sector, fake pharmaceuticals pose significant health risks, as often they are not properly formulated and may contain dangerous ingredients. The data highlighted that mail and courier services are the main modes of transport for counterfeit pharmaceuticals traded worldwide. In terms of volume, air is also an important means of transport in the global trade of fake pharmaceuticals. In terms of value, the main transport mode was by road transport and mail and postal services.
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Distribution of Conveyance Methods for Cultural Artefacts in Illegal Trade, 2019

The chart presents the distribution of transport modes for cultural artefacts seized by customs in 2019, based on the data from World Customs Organization's "Illicit trade Report 2019." The report shows that air and vehicle are the main conveyance methods for cultural artefacts, representing 73% in total seizures. In 2019, out of 217 seizures, 100 were air seizures (36.9%) and 98 vehicles seizures (36.2%). However, by number of artefacts seized, the vehicle seizures accounted for 65% (6 138), while air seizures only for 19% (1 826) of the total number of artefacts seized by customs.
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Distribution of Conveyance Methods for Weapons and Ammunition, 2018-2019

The chart presents the distribution of transport modes for weapons and ammunition seized by customs in 2019, based on the data from World Customs Organization's "Illicit trade Report 2019." The report shows that air, mail, vehicle and vessel are the conveyance methods present in all the seizures of weapons and ammunition. While seizures of weapons and ammunition made from the mail represented 58.2% (6 089) of all seizures made in 2019 (10 469), their number of pieces accounted only for 7.9% (78 131) of the total number of pieces seized by customs. The majority (70.5%) of pieces seized were made via vehicle transport, and out of those 94.4% were ammunition.