REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Report on the implementation of the EU customs Action Plan to combat IPR infringements for the years 2013/2017
Date: 2018-02-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission
Subjects: European Union Intellectual Property Office, action programme, administrative cooperation, customs regulations, customs territory (EU), fraud, illicit trade, intellectual property, third country

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 22.2.2018  COM(2018) 77 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Report on the implementation of the EU customs Action Plan to combat IPR infringements for the years 2013/2017  
 
 
Report on the implementation of the EU Customs Action Plan to Combat Intellectual 
Property Right Infringements for the Years 2013 to 2017 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 2 

1 - Effectively implementing and monitoring the new EU legislation on customs enforcement of 
IPR ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 

1.1 Legislation/Developing tools for implementing the new EU Regulation. ................................ 3 

1.2 Exploiting the full functionality of COPIS ................................................................................ 4 

1.3 Engaging right-holders and stakeholders .................................................................................. 5 

1.4 - Annual publication of statistics ............................................................................................... 5 

2 - Tackling major trends in trade of IPR infringing goods ................................................................ 5 

2.1 Developing tailor-made approach for parcel and postal traffic ................................................. 5 

2.2 Strengthening Customs Risk management ................................................................................ 6 

3 - Tackling trade of IPR infringing goods throughout the international supply chain ....................... 7 

3.1 Strengthening cooperation with key source, transit and destination countries .......................... 7 

3.1.1 People’s Republic of China ................................................................................................ 7 

3.1.2 Hong-Kong, China ............................................................................................................. 8 

3.1.3 International cooperation .................................................................................................... 9 

3.2 Building capacity in candidate and neighbouring countries on IPR enforcement ................... 10 

4 - Strengthening cooperation with the European Observatory on infringements of IPRs and law 
enforcement authorities ..................................................................................................................... 10 

4.1 Establishing a partnership with the European Observatory on infringements of IPRs ........... 10 

4.2 Improving mutual understanding and cooperation between customs, police and judicial 
authorities ...................................................................................................................................... 11 

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 12 

RECOMMANDATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 14 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 

The customs administrations of the European Union are competent to detain goods suspected 
of  infringing  intellectual  property  rights  (IPR)  that  are  protected  by  EU  and  national  laws. 
Customs  work  in  partnership  with  stakeholders,  such  as  right-holders,  other  national  bodies 
and  institutions  responsible  for  the  enforcement  and  application  of  Intellectual  Property 
legislation and the European Commission. 

A first EU Customs Action Plan to Combat Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Infringements 
was  endorsed  by  the  Council  in  20091.  The  objective  was  to  allow  customs  to  follow  a 
common  approach  on  IPR  enforcement  and  focus  their  attention  on  the  areas  posing  the 
greatest risks. 

Recognising the need to provide customs authorities with the necessary tools to address new 
trends  in  international  trade  of  goods  infringing  those  rights,  the  Council  adopted  in 
December 2012 a Resolution on an EU Customs Action Plan to combat IPR infringements for 
the years 2013 to 20172.   

This second EU Action Plan contained four strategic objectives: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Effectively  implementing  and  monitoring  the  new  EU  legislation  on  customs 
enforcement of IPR.  

Tackling major trends in trade of IPR infringing goods. 

Tackling trade of IPR infringing goods throughout the international supply chain. 

Strengthening cooperation with the European Observatory on infringements of IPRs, 
which  is part of the European  Union Intellectual  Property Office (EUIPO), and with 
law enforcement authorities. 

The Action Plan invited the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to conduct 
annual reviews of its implementation and to submit to the Council a final report in 2017.  

This final report has been prepared by the Commission services in cooperation with Member 
States customs experts. It follows the general structure of the Action Plan and includes a set of 
recommendations on how to go forward. 

MAIN OUTCOME 

1 2009/C 71/01 Council Resolution of 16 March 2009 on the EU Customs Action Plan to combat IPR 
infringements for the years 2009/2012.  
2 2013/C 80/01 Council Resolution of 10 December 2012 on the EU Customs Action Plan to combat IPR 
infringements for the years 20013/2017. 

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1 - Effectively implementing and monitoring the new EU legislation on customs 
enforcement of IPR 

1.1 Legislation/Developing tools for implementing the new EU Regulation 

A new Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 on customs enforcement of IPR was adopted on 12 June 
20133 and entered into application on 1 January 2014.  

It  was  completed  by  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  No  1352/2013  of 
4 December 20134 relating to the forms for right-holders’ application for action. 

In order to facilitate the implementation of these new pieces of legislation, the Commission 
developed,  together  with  experts  from  the  Member  States  and  the  OHIM/EUIPO,  an 
eLearning course addressing the changes resulting from the new IPR legislation for customs. 
The course was made available in 2014 on the Commission's Europa website (DG TAXUD 
page).  

An  EU  coordinated  training  plan  was  adopted.  The  Commission  closely  coordinated  this 
activity  with  the  Observatory  on  infringements  of  Intellectual  Property  Rights,  which 
provided the input on the substantive IP laws in the training modules.  

A  campaign  of  support  visits  was  conducted  between  2015  and  2017  to  all  the  Member 
States. The support visits were the ideal instrument to have an in-depth dialogue with customs 
departments  implementing  Regulation  (EU)  No  608/2013,  to  clarify  possible  doubts  on 
practical enforcement, facilitate the exchange of experiences between different Member States 
and provide the necessary advice. 

Each  visit  was  performed  by  two  representatives  from  the  Commission  (DG  TAXUD)  and 
two experts from the Member States who volunteered to take part in the exercise. 

A questionnaire with a standard set of questions was circulated to the Member States ahead of 
the visit and was used as a basis for discussion. All aspects of Regulation No 608/2013 were 
covered  by  the  questionnaire  and  discussed  during  the  visit.  A  final  global  report  will  be 
drafted after all visits have been completed and will be shared with Member States. 

Member  States'  IPR  customs  experts  highlighted  the  usefulness  of  the  exercise  as  an 
opportunity for experts from different Member States to discuss implementation practices. 

At the initiative of the German customs authorities, a Customs 2020 seminar was organised 
in  Munich  (October  2016)  on  IPR  customs  enforcement/  Harmonisation  in  the  process  of 
granting  and  handling  Application  for  Action  (AFA).  IPR  is  a  private  right  enforced  by 
customs  authorities,  but  IPR  infringements  to  it  are  also  a  growing  threat  to  the  economy, 

3 Council Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 
concerning customs enforcement of Intellectual property rights and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 
1383/2003 (OJ L 181, 29 June 2013, p. 15). 
4 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1352/2013 of 4 December 2013 establishing the form provided 
for in Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning customs 
enforcement of intellectual property rights (OJ L, 18 December 2016, p. 10). 

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citizens  and  security.  How  to  best  address  such  an  atypical  situation  for  an  enforcement 
authority  and  how  customs  authorities  can  handle/face  liability  in  certain  cases  were  topics 
discussed during the two days. The administrative customs enforcement system put in place in 
the  Union  via  Regulation  (EU)  No  608/2013  is  functioning  on  the  basis  of  the  request  the 
right-holders  have  to  lodge  to  customs  authorities.  The  entire  customs  action  derives  from 
these AFAs. It is therefore essential that the information contained in the AFAs is of sufficient 
quality to enable an efficient customs intervention. The strong need to ensure high quality for 
AFA granted, notably for Union AFA, was at the core of the debate.   

A  Commission  Notice  was  published  on  5  July  2016  in  the  Official  Journal  and  made 
available  on  TAXUD’s  website.  It  replaces  the  2012  "Guidelines  of  the  European 
Commission  concerning  the  enforcement  by  EU  customs  authorities  of  intellectual  property 
rights  with  regard  to  goods,  in  particular  medicines,  in  transit  through  the  EU”.  It  notably 
aims at providing guidance and explanations to customs authorities on the implementation of 
the  trade  mark  provisions  for  goods  not  released  for  free  circulation  (including  in  transit), 
contained  in  the trade  mark  reform  package (Regulation  (EU)  No  2015/2424  relating  to  the 
EU trade mark and Directive (EU) No 2015/2436 relating to national trade marks). 

On  15  May  2017  the  Commission  adopted  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council  on  the  implementation  of  Council  Regulation  (EU)  No  608/2013  (COM 
(2017)233  final).  In  its  conclusion,  the  report  indicates  that  Regulation  No  608/2013  is 
functioning satisfactorily. It provides for a wide range of protection and procedures which are 
correctly used across the 28 Member States. 

1.2 Exploiting the full functionality of COPIS 

COPIS  (anti-Counterfeit  and  anti-Piracy  Information  System),  the  EU  database  for 
registering AFAs and disseminating them among customs authorities, registering information 
on detention cases, and providing a searching function on AFAs and detention cases, entered 
into application on 1 January 2014. Customs authorities have been progressively adapting to 
the system, which will continue to be further adapted to respond to administrations' needs. 

A  COPIS  training  was  organised  ahead  of  the  entry  into  application  of  the  system  and 
repeated  in  autumn  2017  for  customs  experts  from  the  Member  States  (targeting  both  the 
registration of AFAs as well as the submission of information on detentions). 

The European Observatory on infringements of IPR and the Commission have also launched 
an  integration  project  between  the  Enforcement  Data  Base  (EDB)5  and  COPIS  that  allows 
right-holders  to  transmit  the  information  contained  in  their  AFAs  electronically  to  the 
concerned  Member  State  administrations  via  the  EDB  to  COPIS  (cf.  4.1-  Establishing  a 
partnership with the European Observatory on infringements of IPRs). 

A  link  between  COPIS  and  the  Anti-Fraud  Information  System  (AFIS)  developed  by 
OLAF is due to be operational by the end of 2017. It will enable an automatic transmission of 

5 Enforcement Data Base (EDB) : a database developed by the European Observatory on IPR infringements to 
help law enforcement authorities to recognise counterfeit goods by enabling right holders to securely share 
with those authorities  information on production and logistics. 

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detention results lodged in COPIS towards AFIS (thus saving the double key-in of detention 
results linked to IPR by Member State customs authorities). 

1.3 Engaging right-holders and stakeholders 

To  ensure  that  right-holders  and  stakeholders  were  adequately  informed  about  the  new  EU 
Regulation,  the  Commission  organised  in  June  2013  a  dedicated  meeting  with  a  number  of 
selected  stakeholders  and  representatives  of  the  EU  customs  administrations  to  present  the 
new Regulation and discuss practical aspects. The relevant information was also channelled to 
stakeholders via the EU Observatory on IPR infringement, and during ad-hoc meetings with 
national federations of right-holders to which the Commission was invited.  

The Europa website of the Commission (DG TAXUD) was also updated, and webmasters of 
the SME helpdesks, TransAtlantic Portals, the European Patent Office and the EUIPO were 
asked to ensure an easy access to this information via their web portals.  

The  manual  for  right-holders  was  updated  and  published  on  TAXUD's  website  at  the 
beginning  of  2014.  Many  Member  State  customs  authorities  have  also  made  available  via 
their national websites the AFA form and the manual for right-holders. 

A joint meeting of the customs authorities in the EU and stakeholders has also been set up and 
meets once a year. It has proved a very good forum to discuss issues of common interest to 
customs and stakeholders. 

1.4 - Annual publication of statistics 

The yearly report of statistics on customs enforcement of IPR at the EU external borders is 
prepared  by  the  Commission,  based  on  the  data  transmitted  by  the  Member  State 
administrations (since 2015 data are directly extracted from COPIS). 

The statistics submitted by Member States are shared every year with the EU Observatory of 
infringements of IPR for their inclusion in the Anti-Counterfeiting Intelligence Support Tool 
(ACIST). This tool is a central repository to collect statistics on detentions carried out at EU 
borders and within the Internal Market. 

Data were also shared with the EUIPO and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 
Development (OECD) for the 2016 OECD/EUIPO study on "Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated 
Goods"6.  

2 - Tackling major trends in trade of IPR infringing goods 

2.1 Developing a tailor-made approach for parcel and postal traffic 

Tackling  the  shipments  resulting  from  internet  sales  of  IPR  infringing  goods  is  a  key 
challenge  for  customs  and  was  already  identified  as  such  in  the  EU  Customs  Action  Plan 

6 Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Mapping the Economic Impact, OECD/EUIPO (2016). 
https://euipo.europa.eu/tunnelweb/secure/webdav/guest/document_library/observatory/documents/Mappin
g_the_Economic_Impact_study/Mapping_the_Economic_Impact_en.pdf 

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2009-2012.  As  foreseen  by  the  2013/2017  Action  Plan,  a  Project  Group  on  IPR  customs 
enforcement  on  small  consignments  has  been  created,  whose  focus  has  been  first  on 
supporting  customs  administrations  in  the  controls  of  small  parcels,  then  on  discussing  the 
implementation of the procedure.  

Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 set out a new procedure applicable, upon request 
by the holder of a decision granting an application for action by customs, to counterfeit and 
pirated goods which have been sent by post and courier in small consignments. Under such 
procedure, suspected goods may be destroyed without the involvement of the IP right-holders 
where the declarant or holder of the goods has agreed or has been so presumed. The objective 
of the procedure was “to reduce the administrative burden and costs to a minimum”.  

The Project Group  met four times.  The first meeting in  November 2013 in  Brussels, before 
Regulation (EU) No 608/2013  became applicable, prepared the entry into  application of the 
procedure. After six months of application, the project group met again in Vienna (2014) to 
early share experiences and identify the benefits and problems encountered in the day-to-day 
application of the procedure for small parcels. It met again twice in 2017 to discuss the results 
of detentions made under the small consignment procedure for the years 2014 and 2015 and 
the following specific aspects of the procedure: 

- Involvement of the right-holders, 

- Human resources dedicated to the handling of the procedure, 

- Definition of “small consignment” in Regulation (EU) No 608/2013, 

- Notification practices, 

- Costs, storage and destruction,  

- Registration of data concerning detentions in COPIS. 

The results of the discussion showed that as the use of the procedure by right-holders remains 
on average relatively low, awareness-raising actions should be envisaged and targeted to the 
right-holders themselves rather than to their representatives (to emphasise the added value for 
them of such a procedure). 

The group concluded that for the time being the procedure needs to be used to its full potential 
and in a homogeneous way. 

2.2 Strengthening customs risk management 

In the context of strengthening customs risk management, the request for the regular provision 
of appropriate IPR risk and customs control information via the Common Risk Management 
System (CRMS) has resulted in Member States exchanging risk information via normal Risk 
Information  Form  (RIF)  –  referring  to  new  trends  and  seizures  –  in  224  cases  in  2014,  228 
cases in 2015 and 358 cases in 2016, which shows a clear increase. 

6 

 
A  Customs  2020  Project  Group  prepared  a  report  on  the  analysis  of  RIF  issued  and 
exchanged via the CRMS on counterfeit goods for the year 2014. It reflects the new trends on 
counterfeit goods extracted from the information contained in relevant RIFs issued in 2014 on 
counterfeit  risks.  The report  is  available in  the news section of the  CRMS (for customs use 
only). 

During  the  period  2013  -  2017,  the  priorities  identified  and  decided  by  Member  States  for 
running Priority Control Area actions (PCA) focused on cigarettes/transit, dual-use goods 
and firearms. None took place in relation to IPR infringements. 

Due  to  lack  of  resources,  no  concrete  development  of  Common  Risk  Criteria  (CRC)  has 
occurred so far. 

Concerning  Joint  Customs  Operations  (JCO)  on  IPR,  five  were  organised  by  Member 
States  in  cooperation  with  the  Commission  or  by  the  Commission  between  2014  and  2017. 
Operation  ERMIS  in  2014  was  dedicated  to  parcels  coming  into  the  EU  from  non  EU-
countries  via  mail.  It  was  carried  out  by  the  Greek  Customs  administration  and  OLAF  and 
involved  customs  experts  from  various  Member  States  and  third  countries.  Operation 
REPLICA,  conducted  also  in  2014  within  the  Asia-Europe  Meeting  (ASEM)  framework, 
targeted  the  import  of  counterfeit  goods  by  sea.  OLAF  coordinated  the  operation  which 
involved  all  the  EU  Member  States,  Norway,  Switzerland  together  with  other  ASEM 
international  partners,  as  well  as  Interpol,  Europol  and  the  Word  Customs  Organisation 
(WCO). In 2016, Operation Wafers focused on counterfeit semi-conductors imported into the 
European Union from China and Hong-Kong, China by Post/Express  Courier  Services.  The 
operation was coordinated by the Dutch customs authorities and OLAF with the involvement 
of  12  Member  States  and  the  support  of  Europol.  Operation  RENEGADE  was  organised 
within  the  Asia-Europe  Meeting  (ASEM)  framework,  as  part  of  its  joint  efforts  in  the  fight 
against  counterfeit  goods.  It  was  coordinated  by  OLAF  and  targeted  particularly  the 
international trade of counterfeit auto spare parts by sea container. JCO POSTBOX in 2017, 
led by Belgium, German and Swedish customs authorities under the action "Customs against 
Internet  Crime"  in  the  framework  of  the  Customs  Cooperation  Working  party,  focused  on 
combating  excise  fraud  and  the  illegal  trade  in  counterfeited  goods,  drugs  and  weapons  in 
shipments transported by mail and express courier services.  

3 - Tackling trade in IPR infringing goods throughout the international supply 
chain 

3.1 Strengthening cooperation with key source, transit and destination countries 

3.1.1 People’s Republic of China 

On  16  May  2014,  the  Commission  and  the  General  Administration  of  China  Customs  (‘the 
GACC’)  signed  a  renewed  Action  Plan  concerning  EU-China  Customs  Cooperation  on  IPR 
(2014  –  2017)  as  one  of  the  priorities  of  the  EU-China  Strategic  Framework  for  Customs 
Cooperation  (2014  –  2017)  they  signed  on  the  same  day.  It  made  it  possible  to  resume  the 
operational  cooperation  between  the  Commission  services  and  the  representatives  of  16 

7 

 
seaports and airports in the EU on the one side, and the GACC and representatives from 11 
local Chinese Customs on the other side. 

Financial  and  logistical  support  is  provided  mainly  through  the  EU  IP  Key  programme, 
managed by OHIM/EUIPO. 

During  the  period  under  consideration,  the  EU-China  Working  Group  on  IPR  customs 
enforcement met six times to discuss all Key Actions: 

-  Key Action 1 -  Joint analysis of seizure statistics to detect general trends and risks  

-  Key Action 2 -  Target high-risk consignments in key ports 

- Key Action 3 -  Promote cooperation between customs and other law enforcement agencies 
and  authorities  in  order  to  stop  production  and  wind  up  distribution 
networks 

- Key Action 4 - Joint development of partnerships with the business communities in the EU 

and China 

- Key Action 5 -  Exchange  of  knowledge  and  experience  on  each  other's  IPR  enforcement 

policies and practices 

The Action Plan 2014-2017 has unveiled a new era in the EU-China customs cooperation in 
IPR enforcement. It has turned more practical and benefitted from lessons learned under the 
previous cooperation scheme. Several practical solutions have been established and working 
mechanisms have been smoothened considerably. 

On  2  June  2017  the  EU  and  China  signed  a  new  Strategic  Framework  for  Customs 
Cooperation covering the period 2018 - 2020. The new Action Plan on customs cooperation 
on IPR for 2018-2020, which is under preparation, is part of this new Strategic framework. 

3.1.2 Hong-Kong, China 

On 27 April 2015, the Commission and the Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong 
China signed the Action Plan on cooperation in the customs enforcement of IPR. 

It  focuses  on  the  sharing  of  detention  statistics  on  IPR  infringing  goods,  of  general  risk 
information  and  of  case-specific  information,  and  foresees  the  joint  analysis  of  such 
information to improve customs risk management. In order to test the working mechanisms of 
cooperation contained in the Action Plan, a six-month pilot project started on 1 October 2015. 
The pilot concentrated on air traffic, with the participation of five airports in the EU. 

The  main  conclusion  of  the  pilot  was  that  the  Action  Plan  should  be  continued  with  the 
following recommendations: 

* extend the Action Plan to cover all air express operators in Hong Kong; 

*  exchange  of  spontaneous  information  on  non-actionable  trademarks  and  non-actionable 

goods such as labels or packaging material;  

8 

 
* include more airports in the EU in the Action Plan; 

* include a broader range of local airports in the participating Member State of destination; 

* coordinate at central level the exchange of the referrals, especially with multiple airports; 

* include spontaneous information on detentions to and from non-participating Member State; 

* carry out a deeper comparative analysis of detention statistics on a yearly basis. 

3.1.3 International cooperation 

Concerning the enhancement of the exchange of information between the EU Member States 
and  Commission  services  on  the  one  hand  and  third  countries  on  the  other  hand,  over  the 
years  Customs  Mutual  Administrative  Assistance  has  been  significantly  intensified  with 
Ukraine, Hong-Kong China, Vietnam and the USA for investigations carried out in the IPR 
sector by OLAF.  

An OLAF Liaison Officer was appointed to Beijing in 2016, in particular for strengthening 
the co-operation related to the investigation on cigarettes and counterfeit goods with the China 
and Hong Kong authorities. The OLAF Liaison Officer in Kiev also facilitated the exchange 
of  information  related  to  several  investigations  in  the  area  of  IPR  with  the  Ukrainian 
authorities. 

Europol and OLAF signed in September 2016 an arrangement on the association of experts 
from OLAF with the activities of the Analysis Group COPY dedicated to all crimes related to 
intellectual  property  rights,  with  a  view  to  strengthening  the  cooperation  with  Europol  and 
other law enforcement authorities.  

In a number of bilateral trade agreements recently signed and concluded, negotiation by the 
European Union have successfully integrated chapters on IP protection and enforcement with 
a  Border  Measures  Article  which  reflects  the  EU  approach  and  will  strengthen  IPR 
enforcement in third countries (Georgia, Moldova, Vietnam for instance).  

Combatting counterfeiting and customs enforcement of IPR has also been one of the priorities 
in the ASEM context. 

The Commission and Member State Customs administrations have been present in a number 
of international events to spread knowledge about the new EU Regulation and the Customs 
Action Plan, as well as to gain knowledge on the global situation in IPR enforcement, such as: 

-  the 7th Global Congress on combating Counterfeit and Piracy (Istanbul, 2013); 

-  the  Conference  on  Jointly  Building  Resilient  EU  Responses  to  Counterfeiting  in  Dublin 
(2013); 

- the  International  IP  Enforcement  Summit,  which  took  place  in  London  in  2014  at  the 
initiative of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, the Commission and the UK 
Intellectual Property Office (Cf.4.1 Establishing a partnership with the European Observatory 

9 

 
on infringements of IPRs); the second edition of this event was co-organised by the German 
Ministry of Justice and consumer protection and the EUIPO in Berlin in 2017.  

3.2 Building capacity in candidate and neighbouring countries on IPR enforcement 

Member  States  took  part  in  many  actions  targeting  candidate  and  neighbouring  countries 
within  the  framework  of  the  EU  technical  assistance  project  or  the  TAIEX  programme  
(which enabled either study visits  from experts of the candidate and neighbouring countries 
on  IPR  enforcement  to  EU  countries,  or  the  deployment  of  EU  experts  to  candidate  and 
neighbouring countries via twinning projects).  

The Commission participated, together with experts from Germany and Croatia, in a seminar 
organised  in  Serbia  (2013)  by  the  European  Institute  of  Public  Administration  (EIPA), 
dedicated to customs aspects of IPR infringements and control at the border. 

The  European  Union  Border  Assistance  Mission  to  Moldova  and  Ukraine  (EUBAM)  – 
organised a meeting in Moldova to present Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 (April 2014).  

The  Commission  also  took  the  occasion  of  the  IPR  workshop  for  Euro-Med  countries 
dedicated to the fight against Piracy and Counterfeiting (Brussels, 2013) and of the high-level 
seminar on Customs Cooperation at the Eastern Border of the EU (Lithuania, 2013) to raise 
awareness  of  the  neighbouring  countries  on  the  importance  of  having  a  robust  procedure  in 
place to ensure an efficient customs enforcement of IPR at the border. 

The  effects  of  the  EU’s  efforts  to  build  capacity  in  neighbouring  countries  on  IPR 
enforcement may have been hampered by the limited availability of experts on the EU side. 
This could warrant more attention in the future. 

4 - Strengthening cooperation with the European Observatory on infringements of 
IPRs and law enforcement authorities 

4.1 Establishing a partnership with the European Observatory on infringements of IPRs 

The  cooperation  on  the  customs-related  activities  of  the  European  Observatory  on 
infringements  of  Intellectual  Property  Rights  was  further  developed.  In  addition  to  being 
associated to the customs activities listed in the yearly work programme of the Observatory, 
the  Commission  was  present  in  most  relevant  meetings  of  the  Observatory,  such  as  the 
plenary session, public stakeholder meetings and the working group meetings on enforcement 
issues, public awareness and statistics.  

The Commission is also attending the newly created “Technical group”, set up at the initiative 
of the Observatory, which aims at mapping the existing EU databases playing a role in IPR 
enforcement,  describing  their  content  and  identifying  the  ideal  way  of  transmission  for  the 
exchange  of  information/data  between  them.  The  Technical  group  will  thus  contribute  to 
paving the way to a reinforcement of cooperation between authorities. 

The Commission and some customs administrations also participated together with police and 
judicial authorities in ad-hoc events such as the OHIM/Europol “Knowledge and Awareness 

10 

 
Building  Conference  on  infringements  of  intellectual  property  rights  on  the  internet” 
(November 2014). 

The Observatory is regularly invited to attend the meetings of the Customs expert group on 
IPR enforcement in order to ensure coordination of common customs-related activities. 

Agreement  has  been  reached  to  provide  access  to  customs  authorities  to  the  Observatory 
Enforcement  Data  Base  (EDB)  via  the  CCN/CSI  network.  EDB  is  built  on  existing  IP 
databases  of  the  OHIM/EUIPO  such  as  TM  view  (Trade  Mark  view),  Designview  and 
CESTO (Common support tool for examiners). By consulting EDB, customs authorities can 
find updated information on the validity of rights or search for the right-holder in case of ex-
officio detentions. 

Throughout  the  COPIS  project,  requests  have  been  made  for  COPIS  to  allow  for  the 
electronic submission of AFAs. As the EDB contains relevant information for the submission 
of AFAs, that database has been considered as the most suitable source for the delivery of the 
required  AFA  information  in  an  electronic  format.  Further  to  contacts  between  the 
Commission  and  the  European  Observatory  on  IPR  infringements,  a  proposal  to  implement 
the functionality of the 'pre-AFA' within COPIS has been developed to ease the work of both 
the applicants and the customs authorities. 

The operational connection between COPIS and EDB is in place since 1 July 2015. A User 
Guide and other  additional information  have  been made  available via the national Common 
Communication Network (CCN) coordinators. 

2016  saw  the  first  AFA  sent  electronically  through  the  tool  and  in  2017  several  major 
companies have begun to use EDB for the filing of their national and Union AFAs. 

For  the  applicant,  this  connection  will  reduce  the  burden  of  multiple  submissions  of 
information, and for customs authorities, the data capture of paper AFAs. 

4.2 Improving mutual understanding and cooperation between customs, police and 
judicial authorities 

In 2013, the Commission and some Member State customs administrations participated 
in various OHIM/Europol events together with police and judicial authorities, such as the 
knowledge-building  seminars  on  fake  pesticides  and  medicines  (dealing  both  with  IPR  and 
product safety) and the Interpol International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference.  

The  Observatory,  the  UK  IP  Office  and  the  Commission  co-organised  an  IP  enforcement 
summit  in  London  in  June  2014.  Part  of  this  summit  was  dedicated  to  "IP  enforcement 
challenges  at  the  border",  with  workshops  dedicated  to  small  consignments  as  a  result  of 
Internet  orders  and  the  exploitation  of  intelligence.  The  discussion  identified  the  following 
elements: 

- the critical importance of receiving adequate information and sharing it with the police and 

other enforcement authorities; 

11 

 
- the  growing  need  to  cooperate  and  act  internationally  to  tackle  the  international  supply 

chains of counterfeit. 

As  a  follow-up  to  the  Summit,  the  Commission  organised  in  February  2016  in  cooperation 
with the OHIM/EUIPO a High-Level Conference on the cooperation between customs and 
other authorities in the fight against the infringements of IPR. 

The event provided a platform for discussion, debate and networking between customs, police 
and  judicial  authorities  to  enhance  co-operation  and  mutual  understanding  of  the  respective 
roles and responsibilities of each enforcement authority in the fight against IPR infringements. 
Representatives from the private sector also participated in the conference.  

During  the  first  day,  discussion  focused  on  the  importance  and  benefits  of  exchanging 
information  and  intelligence  between  the  enforcement  authorities,  the  obstacles  and 
challenges  faced  by  each  authority  on  a  practical  level,  the  necessity  for  timely 
communication  exchanges  from  the  private  sector  to  the  enforcement  authorities,  which 
would also help the enforcement authorities perform more effective risk analysis. 

On the second day of the event, also attended by Chinese authorities, the value of fostering 
international  collaboration  between  the  EU  and  all  Chinese  authorities  involved  in  IPR 
enforcement, such as Customs, Police and the People’s Prosecutor's office, was at the core of 
the debate. 

Follow-up  actions  have  been  organised  in  cooperation  with  the  European  Observatory  on 
infringements  of IPR. They include a mapping of existing databases on infringements cases 
and  a  knowledge  building  event,  which  took  place  in  October  2017  gathering,  at  an 
operational  level,  customs,  police  and  market  surveillance  authorities  in  order  to  discuss  on 
what is the key information amongst enforcers so as to tackle counterfeiting on an EU global 
scale.  

CONCLUSION 

Overall,  Member  State  customs  administrations  and  the  Commission  have  deployed 
significant efforts and are working proactively to address the challenges associated with the 
customs enforcement of IPR and curb the influx of IPR infringing goods into the EU. 

All means have been employed to make Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 known and used to its 
full potential by all public and private stakeholders concerned. The support visits have proved 
particularly  useful  for  experts  from  different  Member  States  to  discuss  implementation 
practices and for the Commission to gather a global implementation picture. 

The  number  of  AFAs  granted  by  customs  administrations  has  shown  a  steady  rise  (from 
26 865 in 2013 to 35 815 in 2016).  

Customs action came to the following results in terms of detentions. 

DETENTIONS  2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

12 

 
Cases 
Procedures 
Articles 
Domestic  retail 
value 

86 854  
Not available 
39 917 445 
EUR 
million 

768 

95 194 
Not available 
35 940 294 
EUR 
million 

617 

81 098 
105 488 
35 568 982 
EUR 
million 

642 

63 184 
77 705 
41 387 132 
EUR 
million 

672 

Each detention is referred to as a case that may contain one or more articles. Each case may 
contain  articles  of  different  product  categories  and  from  different  right-holders.  In  COPIS, 
Member States register each case with information per category of goods and per right-holder. 
For  each  category  of  goods  and  each  right-holder  a  detention  procedure  will  be  initiated, 
which explains why there are more procedures than cases. 

Cooperation was reinforced into three directions: 

- with stakeholders;  

- with the EU Observatory;    

- with third countries. 

The  challenges  of  the  cooperation  between  enforcement  authorities  engaged  in  the  fight 
against IPR infringements have also been addressed and the dialogue established has shown 
how important it would be to pursue efforts in this regard.  

The  trafficking  of  IPR  infringing  goods  remains  however  a  widespread  and  ever  increasing 
phenomenon. International trade in counterfeit products represents up to 2.5% of world trade, 
or as much as EUR 338 billion, based on the latest available data from 20137. The impact of 
counterfeiting  is  particularly  high  in  the  European  Union,  with  counterfeit  and  pirated 
products amounting up to 5% of imports, or as much as EUR 85 billion. 

Further developments are necessary in order to: 

- ensure a homogeneous IPR border enforcement throughout the Union; 

- develop IPR risk management tools; 

-  strengthen  customs  cooperation  with  police  (including  Europol)  and  other  enforcement 
authorities. 

Further actions from the Commission and the Member States should focus on these priorities. 

7 Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Mapping the Economic Impact, OECD/EUIPO (2016). 
https://euipo.europa.eu/tunnel-
web/secure/webdav/guest/document_library/observatory/documents/Mapping_the_Economic_Impact_study
/Mapping_the_Economic_Impact_en.pdf. 

13 

 
 
                                                            
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 

Infringements  of  IPR  remain  an  increasing  threat  and  a  difficult  challenge  to  address. 
Coordination  of  customs  activities  having  shown  its  added  value  to  reinforce  results,  the 
customs  action  plan  to  combat  IPR  infringements  should  certainly  be  re-conducted  for  the 
years to come. 

On  29  November  2017  a  comprehensive  package  of  measures  to  further  improve  the 
application  and  enforcement  of  IPRs  within  the  EU  Member  States,  at  EU  borders  and 
internationally  has  been  adopted  by  the  Commission.  The  Communication  COM  (2017)707 
from 29 November 2017, entitled “A balanced IP enforcement system responding to today’s 
societal challenges”, which is part of the package, mentions that the Commission will offer a 
more targeted assistance to national customs authorities, based on the result of the current EU 
customs Action Plan, and will work with the Council towards a new Action Plan in 2018. 

It is recommended that the following elements should be addressed in the future action plan: 

On legislation: 

●  Modify  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  No  1352/2013  of  4  December  2013 
establishing  the  form  provided  for  in  Regulation  (EU)  No  608/2013  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  concerning  customs  enforcement  of  intellectual  property 
rights (OJ L, 18.12.2016, p.10) to adapt it to the Trademark package and to developments 
in COPIS 

On operational performance: 

●  Develop risk management on infringement of IPR 

●  Promote  joint  use  of  results  of  risk  analysis,  risk  intelligence  and  customs  operations  by 

Member States 

●  Ensure  adequate  protection  of  datasets  and  databases,  third  party  rights,  privacy  and 
confidentiality  and  safeguards  to  be  adopted  when  creating,  procuring  and  disseminating 
data 

●  Identify possible gaps in implementation of customs enforcement regulations 

On business cooperation: 

●  Raise awareness of right-holders on the small consignment procedure 

●  Continue the yearly meeting of the common group Customs/stakeholders 

On international cooperation: 

●  Continue cooperation with key partners such as China and Hong-Kong China 

Strengthening coordination with EU agencies: 

14 

 
●  EUIPO - EU Observatory 

- Reinforce trends analysis  

- Align IT developments, such as e-filing of AFA 

● Europol 

- Strengthen customs cooperation with police 

15