The European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, has described Maltese Customs as a "pillar" in the battle to prevent counterfeit goods from entering the EU market.
Maltese Customs last year carried out 46 procedures in which more than 3.2 million suspected articles were detained, according to a report published in Brussels. Some of these articles were potentially dangerous to the health and safety of European consumers.
Smuggled cigarettes were among the most common items seized by the Customs, prompting OLAF director general Franz-Hermann Brüner to single out the island's efforts.
"The Maltese Customs cooperate with OLAF in an excellent and highly efficient manner," he said during a press conference.
He added that Maltese Customs were an important partner in the fight against cigarette smuggling. Malta notified the office of all significant shipments of cigarettes, which was an important intelligence tool in the common fight against smuggling, Mr Bruner said.
In general, the Commission's report showed that during last year, European Customs registered more than 49,000 cases of goods detained at the EU's external borders, suspected of Intellectual Property Rights' infringements, while the number of articles detained more than doubled over 2007 to 178 million.
The increase registered last year showed a further strengthening in cooperation between Customs and industry, enabling authorities to better target suspect shipments and to recognise goods infringing intellectual property rights.
The 2008 statistics show that the most significant increases in terms of cases were registered in toys, electrical equipment, medicines and personal care products. The number of articles detained increased even more significantly with regard to DVDs and cigarettes.
China was the main source country for articles infringing intellectual property rights, amounting to 54 per cent of the total. However, in certain product categories, other countries were the main source, notably Indonesia for foodstuffs and beverages, the United Arab Emirates for cigarettes and India for medicines.
In a statement, Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said combating trade of goods infringing intellectual property rights remained a top priority for Customs in the EU.