Malta Customs ranks high in fight against fake goods

Malta Customs placed third in an international competition organised by the World Customs Organisation to reward efforts to curb the trafficking of counterfeit goods and piracy in 2006.

The competition, won by Paraguay, was open to WCO members from 171 countries.

The Customs Department said that participating Customs organisations had to submit data about the efforts made and the successes achieved last year.

Paraguay's Customs organisation had lost one of its female officers in the line of duty. She was shot dead as Customs officers were engaged in an operation to seize two containers loaded with counterfeit goods.

The Algerian Customs department placed second. The country, Malta Customs said, is notorious for the influx of counterfeit goods. Over 50 containers loaded with such goods were last year seized by Algerian Customs, which was working hard to curb such illegal practice.

A spokesman for Malta Customs said the prestigious award meant recognition on an international level of the efforts made by Malta to curb the spread of counterfeit goods.

Togo was placed fourth and Germany fifth.

The Customs organisation of China, a country reputed to be a source of counterfeit goods, was also given recognition for its efforts to control this phenomenon.

The results of the competition were announced at the end of a meeting of top Customs officials in WCO member countries held in Brussels.