Commissioner lauds EU Customs administrations

European Commission Vice President Siim Kallas, who is also responsible for administrative affairs, audit and anti-fraud, said that mutual administrative assistance in Customs matters was a key factor for the protection of the EU's financial interests.

Congratulating member states' individual Customs authorities, Laszlo Kovacs, EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, referred to Operation Fake which targeted counterfeit products as these had "a negative economic impact on European businesses".

The Customs Department in Malta made a record number of seizures in the EU-wide operation held late last May and details of which were released on Tuesday.

As the percentage of counterfeit goods worldwide - especially of those originating from China - increase year after year, public authorities lose substantial revenue in VAT and Customs duty through an underground economy which directly affects the EU's resources and finances organised crime, Mr Kovacs said.

Operation Fake involved 250 Customs officers from across the EU.

About 140 consignments for air traffic and 60 containers were detained at European borders. Nearly 500,000 kilogrammes of goods and 26 million items, including textiles, footwear, electronic equipment, medicines, cigarettes and other articles, were seized.

The operation was directed by a team of 11 liaison officers and Commission officials from the new technical support infrastructure for joint Customs initiatives set up in the Brussels premises of the European anti fraud office (OLAF).

In one case, a container leaving the port of Ningbo in China and bound for Poland was intercepted in Antwerp where it was found to be carrying counterfeit cigarettes when the container's papers described the contents as plastic bowls.

The Belgian Customs informed their European counterparts about their suspicion. In response, the Maltese, German and Spanish Customs said they did not consider the Chinese company making the consignment to be a reliable operator. The French and British Customs added that the operator had been involved in cigarette trafficking last year, when counterfeit cigarettes had been declared as garden furniture.

The Belgian Customs checked the container upon arrival and seized 8,703,000 counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes, representing a loss of more than €1 million in Customs and excise duty.