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"Drakkar - Polish-
Norwegian course
for the safety of the
Schengen area".
An increase in free movement of persons and goods has
influenced the growing threat from organized crime coming from
other countries. Activities carried out within border areas are not
always sufficiently effective, which results in transferring criminal
centres to the centre of Poland, which is both a transit and
destination country for human trafficking and smuggling of goods.
Opening of borders increases illegal trade in excise goods. Profits
from trafficking are often used to finance criminal activity in other
sectors of the economy.
Therefore, the project will be devoted to analyse compensation
measures that are applied to ensure security in the Schengen area.
They will be presented during three training seminars in Lesser
Poland, in Masovia and in Greater Poland.
Seminar in Masovia – it will be devoted to the prevention and
control of an increasingly common phenomenon of smuggling of
counterfeit and excise goods to the territory of European Union.
It will be held on 22-26.06.2015 for 200 police officers from
Masovian, Lesser Poland, Łódź and Greater Poland Voivodeships.
Smuggling of counterfeit
and excise goods to the
territory of the
European Union.
The growth of trade in counterfeit goods observed in recent
years demonstrates a direct link with the situation on the
international market. Progressive economic crisis in some countries,
economic slowdown and even recession in other ones provoke many
negative economic and social phenomena.
The introduction of a savings system is a direct response to the
crisis. While government austerity programmes being developed for
the entire economy may produce positive effects, the effects of
household savings may be dangerous to human life and health. More
and more consumers try to “get around” the system and buy cheaper
products, reach for goods of poor quality
and unknown origin.
Most often, they are
counterfeit goods.
For many citizens, who by all means want to emulate a lifestyle
typical of representatives of highly developed countries, the
possession of goods bearing trademarks of renowned global brands
is a measure of luxury and wealth.
The effects of the economic crisis felt by consumers, such as
rising unemployment, decline in wages, increase in the cost of living
of households or inflation contribute to looking for savings in every
possible area.
However, one might pay a high price for such "savings",
especially when it comes to counterfeit medications, cigarettes or
alcohol, which constitute the largest group of counterfeit goods in
the whole world.
The phenomenon of counterfeiting famous trademarked brands
has become a global problem in recent years. Trade in goods
infringing intellectual property rights brings profits comparable to
those coming from trade in arms and drugs. Various means of
transport are used to carry illegal products into the European
Union.
The largest (400-
meter) container
ship in the world,
Maersk Mc world-
Kinney Moller,
used to transport
goods to the EU,
among others.
On the European Union market, counterfeit goods represent a
constantly growing percentage of all goods sold.
The main supplier of products infringing intellectual property
rights are China. 85% of all illegal goods, mainly clothing, shoes,
medicines and toys, seized at EU borders come from China.
According to a European Commission estimate, 3 to 5 million
people working in China are employed in the production of
counterfeit and pirated goods.
Fake foods are imported mainly from Turkey, Thailand - soft
drinks; from Hong Kong - memory cards and mobile phones, from
Egypt - games and toys; counterfeit medications from India. It
should be noted, however, that the data indicated by the European
Commission concern only a part of the goods detained by border
guards, not the total market of counterfeit goods.
European Commission reports pay special attention to the fact
that among the counterfeit detained goods, there is a growing
number of goods ordered via the Internet and sent to the territory of
the European Union by post. Many counterfeit products are available
in online stores and auctions, and consumers tempted with their low
price decide to buy them. In addition, the quality of counterfeit
clothes is very good and their origin does not often provoke any
doubt.
Factories that produce genuine goods more and more often at
the same time produce their fakes. One can never be sure if branded
luxury goods purchased in authorized stores are genuine ones. Lots
of counterfeit goods, often at the moment of shipment from the
factory, are packaged by manufacturers together with the original
product. Importers who are involved in the distribution of luxury
goods in the European Union are often not able, despite strict
control, to eliminate counterfeit items.
According to data from the Customs Service Department of the
Ministry of Finance, Polish Customs Service detains goods that
infringe intellectual property rights, mainly in the form of clothing,
watches, jewellery and leather goods, toys, sports equipment,
games and shoes.
According to
statistics, Poland is
indicated as the
world fourth largest
market for trade in
counterfeit goods.
Counterfeit goods are mostly sold in the marketplace and at
online auctions by anonymous sellers. The main reason why
consumers decide to purchase counterfeit goods is their low price
and wide availability.
Deteriorating consumers’ financial situation during the crisis
affects the growth of demand for cheaper goods. Many people
replace luxury goods with counterfeit ones; cheaper, though
produced from raw materials of unknown origin and of "dubious"
quality. Clothing, jewellery, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are the
most popular products. Stimulants, such as alcohol and cigarettes
are not products of first necessity, however at the time of worsening
economic situation, we observe an increased demand for these
goods.
While counterfeit luxury goods such as leather goods, clothing
and cosmetics can be assigned to a group of goods purchased by
consumers consciously, pharmaceuticals are often purchased
without knowing that they are counterfeit. Their number on the
market is growing at a very fast pace. The World Health
Organization estimates that the Polish spend annually as much as
100 milion zlotys on counterfeit medicines. It is estimated that every
hundredth medication on the Polish market could be counterfeit.
Worldwide, the number of deaths caused by counterfeit medicines
ranges from a few dozens to as many as 200 thousand people per
year.
The most commonly counterfeited medicines include erectile
dysfunction medications, ant-obesity medications, stomach and
duodenum medications, abortion medications, anabolic steroids,
and even what is most shocking, specialized drugs used to treat
cancer. Counterfeit drugs are usually purchased over the Internet
and purchasing decisions are made on the basis of descriptions on
pages that do not even specify basic information about the
manufacturer of the drug and its composition.
Illegal counterfeit goods market is full of alcohol. As a result of
of the Polish Customs Service and the Police, illegal alcohol bottling
is often eliminated and many irregularities related to the
production of alcohol are detected. Counterfeiters of alcohol use all
means to improve their production processes and it’s the more and
more difficult to identify counterfeit vodka, whiskey, brandy or
other types of alcohol.