Results of joint customs operation, 'Fake'

Over 1,200,000 packs of cigarettes, 30,000 counterfeit batteries and several tons of clothing: these are just some of the counterfeit products that have been discovered and impounded thanks to the success of the joint customs operation, 'Fake', involving European Union Member States.

Specifically, the Italian customs are involved in the operation at 5 ports (Genoa, La Spezia, Gioia Tauro, Taranto and Trieste) and 1 airport (Milano Malpensa). Overall, they have carried out 23 seizures (among the first at Community level). The items intercepted include around 46,000 clothing accessories (glasses, wallets, belts), 20,000 T-shirts and 60,000 lamps. The customs duties, VAT and excise duties that have been ascertained at Community level are also substantial; the total for cigarettes alone is 3,900,000 Euros.

As part of the fight against the counterfeiting, the customs administrations of Member States, backed up by the European Commission's European Antifraud Office (OLAF), the Head Office for Taxation and the Customs Union, for 10 days last May around 250 customs officers carried out the first joint customs operation which mainly focused on checking products arriving from China by air and sea.

The success of this operation is the result of a very close collaboration with the customs authorities of the Member States to counter illegal phenomena, such as counterfeiting and piracy, which are among the most lucrative money laundering systems and means of funding international criminal organizations which affect the development of entire sectors of the economy, putting at risk the stability of commercial operators who work in compliance with the regulations, the levels of employment in individual countries and the safety of their citizens.

Initiatives like 'Fake' have been made possible also thanks to OLAF's operational coordination. It hosts the new intelligence center for joint customs operations where all Member States can work in close contact and cooperate on the implementation of the targeted control of such illegal activities as cigarette smuggling, drug trafficking and counterfeiting.