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(2004/C 84 E/0314)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3923/03

by Brice Hortefeux (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 December 2003)

Subject:   Counterfeiting

According to the European Commission's customs statistics, 50 million counterfeit or pirated articles were seized at the EU's external frontiers during the first six months of 2003, a figure much higher than that for the corresponding period in 2002.

It is also becoming clear that counterfeiting is no longer restricted to luxury products, but now also embraces mass-produced items, such as mobile phones, toys, batteries, medicinal products and foodstuffs.

Quite apart from the economic losses suffered as a result of this illegal trade, counterfeit products are very dangerous for consumers, since they do not comply with safety standards and are, by their very nature, not subject to any official checks.

Against this background, can the Commission state whether a specific plan has been drawn up to combat this scourge and, if so, can it outline the main features of that plan?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(13 February 2004)

The Commission attaches great importance to combating counterfeiting and piracy. Statistics compiled by customs administrations at the EU's external borders confirm that in the space of four years the number of seizures for infringements of intellectual property rights has increased by more than 900 %.

Consequently, the Commission has taken a number of legal and operational initiatives both on customs issues to do with controls at the EU's external borders and on internal market-related issues.

On 22 July 2003, Council adopted a new customs regulation, Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 (1). This new legal instrument drafted jointly with the principal associations of holders of intellectual property rights, being more flexible and effective, should enable small and medium-sized enterprises, especially, to defend themselves better and at lower cost.

The other key issue is consumer protection and safety, as consumers are increasingly vulnerable given the changing nature of product fraud. Therefore, new intellectual property rights such as geographical indications, designations of origin and plant varieties will be brought within the scope of the new customs regulation. Such rights, as guarantees of quality and expertise, will in future be eligible for protection by customs.

In addition, a number of the provisions of Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on general product safety (2), in force since 15 January 2004, will help to increase market surveillance for consumer products.

A number of major operational initiatives will be launched in early January 2004. EU enlargement to include new Member States presents us with an opportunity and it is the responsibility of the new customs union to protect its new frontiers. To this end, in terms of combating counterfeiting and piracy, an operational initiative aimed at helping the new Member States to set up a harmonised risk analysis system is currently being examined.

As regards internal market measures, in recent years a great many legal provisions on intellectual property have developed (including patents, trade marks and designs and copyright) and following the initiative announced in the Commission communication entitled ‘Follow-up to the Green Paper on combating counterfeiting and piracy in the single market’ (3) of 30 November 2000, the Commission adopted a proposal on 30 January 2003 for a directive harmonising the means of applying all kinds of intellectual property rights in the EU.

The Commission also introduced a series of anti-counterfeiting initiatives aimed specifically at engineering products. This enabled an informative dossier to be compiled and distributed among European engineering firms and an anti-counterfeiting workshop to be held in conjunction with the industry, represented by Orgalime. A practical guide to combating counterfeiting, aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, was published in late 2001 and a database on fake engineering products was set up.

As regards international cooperation, several operational seminars and a number of conferences on combating counterfeiting and piracy were held together with the EU's major economic partners such as the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries, China, Russia, the United States, Korea and Japan. These led to a fruitful exchange of information and experience, and even, in some cases, significant changes to the legislation of some of the countries mentioned.

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(1)  Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights, OJ L 196, 2.8.2003.

(2)OJ L 11, 15.1.2002.

(3)  COM(2000) 789 final.

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