Fake products worth €1.3bln seized at EU borders in 2011 - EU customs

EU Custom’s officials intercepted almost 115 million fake articles last year, which is 15 percent more than in 2010.

EU Custom’s officials have detained almost 115 million fake articles last year, 15 percent more than a year earlier, says the European Commission’s annual report.The seized goods were valued at around €1.3 billion, compared to €1.1 billion in 2010, says the European Commission’s annual report.EU customs also detained items sent by postal and courier traffic, connected to internet sales.The top categories of counterfeit products were medicines (24%), packaging material (21%), cigarettes (18%), clothing, and mobile phone accessories.Overall, China topped the list of countries that send fake goods to the EU, accounting for 73 percent of counterfeit products seized in 2011. Turkey was number one for fake foodstuffs, Panama for alcoholic beverages, Thailand for non-alcoholic beverages, Hong Kong for mobile phones, accessories and computer equipment and Syria for recorded CDs and DVDs.But several EU member states also featured in the report.The United Kingdom dealt with the highest number of cases last year (almost 33,000), representing almost half of the total. The countries that seized the highest number of articles in 2011 were Bulgaria and Italy with between 25% and 30% each.