Anti-counterfeiting World Day

7th June was the World Day against Forgery. During the meetings held on this occasion, the extent of Internet purchases of false goods was stressed. According to data from the Tax Agency, false products sent by urgent transport and by mail amounted to 10% of all goods retained by the Customs Office.

Product falsification reaches almost all commercial sectors, seriously damages the economy and employment, is a risk for consumers’ safety and may damage their health. According to estimates by the Spanish National Association for the Defence of Trade Marks (ANDEMA), during 2010 expenditure on forged products in Spain amounted to 500 million euros.

Trade in forged goods also leads to much underground economic activity. For this reason and with a view to combating unfair or illegal trading practices, over recent years the Tax Agency has set up programmes to monitor commercial imports, especially those coming from Asia as it has been noted that most forged products come from Asian countries (89% last year).

Public awareness
The Tax Agency, the OEPM and ANDEMA all stress the importance of public awareness for rejecting this type of product which offer no guarantees, undergo no quality controls, compete unfairly, destroy employment and may place consumers’ health at risk in the case of cosmetics and toys.

During 2011, the Tax Agency confiscated over 5.5 million forged products, especially clothing, sports shoes and electronic goods. These accounted for 72% of the more than 5,800 actions taken to seize false goods.

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