A report published by the European Commission (EC) shows that Portugal registered the second biggest increase in the number of confiscated counterfeit products in the European Union (EU) last year – with a massive 207% rise compared to 2012.
A total of 857,647 fake items were seized by Portuguese tax and customs authorities (AT) in 2013, compared to 2012’s 279,132.
The astronomical increase was only beaten by Poland, which saw the number of confiscated counterfeit items soar from around 279,000 in 2012 to 2.4 million in 2013 – that’s a 786% rise.
Taking all 28 EU countries into account, the number of seized items dropped from nearly 40 million in 2012 to nearly 36 million in 2013.
Portugal was the 13th with the highest number of items confiscated last year, in a list headed by Italy (4.9 million), Spain (3.5 million) and Germany (3 million).
The report names medication and clothing as the most seized products – representing 10% and 1% of all items confiscated.
Approximately 90% of the products were then destroyed or subject to legal proceedings to determine who had produced and sold them.
According to the report, China continues to be the main exporter of counterfeit products – accountable for 66% of all seized items – although other countries stand out for being the key exports of certain imitations, such as Turkey with perfumes and cosmetics and Egypt with food products.
