It is a raging river, that of counterfeit products. In 2012 alone, the European customs, real dams to counter the flooding, blocked 40 million, for a total value of one billion euros. The figures were released by the European Commission.
The most present product is one of the great classics of smuggling: tobacco. Cartons of cigarettes make up 31 percent of seizures.
About a quarter of the fakes sent – often by ordinary mail – are medicines. The king of drugs remains Viagra, but there is also the presence of painkillers, antidepressants and even anti-cancer treatments. Last month, in Le Havre, 1,2 million bags of aspirin arriving from China were seized.
For the rest, these are consumer goods that are generally undervalued, but with a significant economic value when it comes to large numbers. 12 percent is made up of bottles, glue, batteries, detergents and lamps. Packaging material follows closely (10 percent).
The vast majority of products come from China (to be precise, 64,5 percent from Beijing, 7,8 from Hong Kong), followed by the United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria. And then, as often happens, there are the specializations. Morocco is the leader in the export of fake food, while Japan has jumped on electronic cigarettes.
And in the peninsula, where the debate on counterfeit Made in Italy is always taking center stage, there is also some timidly positive data: 2012 seizures were recorded in 5190 against 5135 in 2011, but there is a strong reduction in the number of counterfeit products, from over 29 million in 2011 to just over six million in 2012.
