Malta gets positive mention

The European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Laszlo Kovacs yesterday named Malta as one of the new EU member states doing its utmost in the fight against trade in counterfeit goods.

During a press conference, Mr Kovacs said that "although the compilation of statistics for 2004 is not yet completed, the results so far demonstrate that the Customs authorities of the new member states have been very active in the area since their accession".

As an example he mentioned the seizure of 10,000 car parts by the Maltese Customs authorities last year.

Mr Kovacs said the European Commission was urging urgent action to tackle a soaring trade in counterfeit food, medicines and children's toys.

Over two-thirds, 70 per cent, of counterfeit products originated in Asia - 60 per cent from China alone.

Official EU figures show that the number of counterfeit and pirated items seized by Customs officials increased to 100 million in 2003 - up from 85 million in 2002.

In the same period seizures of food and medicine soared by 77 per cent and interception of counterfeit children's games and toys rocketed by 996 per cent.

Mr Kovacs urged national governments to step up the crackdown on traders in fake goods.

"Counterfeiting and piracy increasingly involve children's toys, medicines and food products and this constitutes a real danger to consumers," the Hungarian commissioner said.

He said that "the Customs authorities of the member states are already working hard to combat this problem but we must take many more very concrete actions if we are to protect ourselves and the world from this threat to our safety and to our economy".

Mr Kovacs said it is being estimated that trade in pirated products in the EU last year increased by a further 10 per cent over 2003.