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Cases Of Fake Goods Entering Island Increase By 200% In One Year, With Malta Third In EU For Total Seizures

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The number of cases of fake goods entering Malta increased by close to 200% in just over a year jumping up from 64 in 2017 to 181 in 2018, EU findings have revealed.

In fact, tiny Malta seized the third largest amount of fake goods in the entire EU, with customs officials taking hold of 2,434,450 goods that infringe on intellectual property rights in 2018.

That’s an increase of about 63% when compared with the previous year.

The latest impressive result follows widespread reform that has yielded success after success for the department. Customs officials have uncovered over €1 million in undeclared cash over the last ten months, while also recording record drug seizures year on year.

The overwhelming majority of customs’ intervention concern postal and courier packages, standing at 81% across the entire EU.

China continued to be the primary source of goods that infringe intellectual property rights, mostly in the form of watches, mobile phones, and CDs/DVDs.

However, other countries like North Macedonia and Turkey remain hotspots of the import of ‘fake’ alcohol, perfume, and cosmetics brands.

The main source for computer equipment was India, Cambodia for cigarettes and Bosnia and Herzegovina for packaging material.

READ NEXT: Malta Just Broke An All-Time Record For Catching Fake And Counterfeit Goods

 

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.

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