Statistics just published by the European Commission relating to goods infringing intellectual property rights (IPR), show for the sixth consecutive year a significant increase in customs activity. In 2008, customs registered over 49,000 cases of goods detained at the EU’s external border, suspected of IPR infringements. The number of articles detained more than doubled in 2008 to 178 million, of which about 20 million were potentially dangerous to the health and safety of European consumers.

China was the main source country for IPR infringing articles with 54% of the total amount. However, in certain product categories, other countries were the main source, notably Indonesia for foodstuff and beverages, the United Arab Emirates for cigarettes and India for medicines. In terms of cases, the most significant increases can be seen in the following product categories:

• toys: +136%
• electrical equipment: +58%
• medicines: +57%
• personal care products: +42%;

CD/DVD was the top category of articles detained with a total amount of 79 million, which accounted for 44% of the entire amount, followed by cigarettes (23%) and clothing and accessories (10%).