Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-08-Speech-2-263"
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"en.20050308.23.2-263"2
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".
Thank you for the question. Counterfeiting and piracy are very serious problems and they are of enormous and growing magnitude. The total volume of counterfeit goods is between 5% and 10% of world trade and the value is close to EUR 500 billion per year. Counterfeiting and piracy undermine jobs and result in a considerable loss of revenue. But as more and more fake foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, car and aircraft spare parts appear on the market, counterfeiting is a growing threat to the health and safety of the consumer.
Customs play a major role in combating counterfeiting. EU customs, with new modern legislation and operational actions, have increased by 900% the seizures of fake products in four years. One of the most effective instruments in the fight against counterfeiting, however, is to cut it at source.
Bearing in mind that 70% of counterfeit products seized at EU borders are of Chinese origin, the Commission has been focusing on China in the fight against counterfeiting. A promising achievement was the recently signed customs cooperation agreement between the European Union and China, which includes joint action against counterfeiting. The significance of the cooperation is shown by a single statistic: 5 000 containers arrive daily from China in the major ports in the European Union.
My colleague, Commissioner Mandelson, who is responsible for trade policy, visited China recently and had the opportunity to discuss the issue with high-ranking Chinese officials, including the Deputy Prime Minister, who expressed their commitment to the fight against counterfeiting.
The Commission has regular dialogues with China at an expert level too. The EU-China intellectual property rights dialogue had its first meeting last October in Beijing. The next meeting of the economic and trade working group will be held on 17 and 18 March. It will also address the intellectual property issue within a sub-group entirely dedicated to that subject.
Commissioner in charge of taxation and customs, I have high expectations for cooperation with the Chinese customs authorities, as well as for modern Chinese customs legislation. I hope that a large proportion of the counterfeit goods will be stopped and seized prior to their export from China.
Concerning Russia, there are very few fake products seized by EU customs that have come from Russia. The Russian intellectual property legislation is now largely compliant with the WTO TRIPS Agreement. However, enforcement remains weak.
The Commission intends to continue its efforts on intellectual property issues with Russia through a structured intellectual property dialogue, similar to the one with China."@en1
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