Question 18796 — consumption

Summary

Ms. Constance Le Grip alerts the Minister of Action and Public Accounts on the subject of counterfeiting. The OECD estimates that 2.5% of global imports and 5% of imports into Europe are fake products. Counterfeits continue to have a heavy impact on the economy and threaten French manufacturers. According to a study by the European observatory of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), counterfeiting leads to a loss of more than 35,000 jobs and nearly 7 billion euros in sales in France each year. Across the European Union, this represents more than 434,000 jobs and nearly 59 billion euros. If seizures of fake products fell by 35.7% between 2017 and 2018, this is unfortunately not only linked to the increased efficiency of the work of customs services, but above all to changes in handling practices. distribution of counterfeits. Whereas previously, counterfeit products passed through wholesalers, were delivered in containers, and were redistributed nationally via sales networks (on the street, in markets, at discounters, via works councils), today the smuggling of counterfeit and illicit products is done more and more often via the internet, with direct sales to consumers. This is a process that poses new challenges for the fight against counterfeiting. According to a study carried out in 2018 by the IFOP, 37% of French people aged 15 and over have already purchased counterfeit goods without knowing it. Among the fake products seized by customs services, everyday consumer products occupy the first places, with games and toys in the lead, which attests to the importance of the fight against counterfeiting to guarantee the protection and safety of consumers, particularly young people. Indeed, in the absence of quality controls and certifications, the elements used in the composition of objects cannot be evaluated, thus representing significant risks for the health and safety of people. Furthermore, uncertainties regarding the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union risk to lead to an influx of additional customs officers at the borders with the United Kingdom, with the consequence of a reduction in the number of personnel deployed in the fight against counterfeiting at other French borders. The current customs strikes demonstrate the immense challenges to be faced in the coming years. Economic players are continuing their awareness-raising work, for example with the signing on April 9, 2019 of an agreement cooperation between the French anti-counterfeiting association Unifab (Union of Manufacturers), its Italian counterpart Indicam (Istituto di Centromarca per la lotta alla contraffazione) and the border town of Ventimiglia, renowned for its “market”. Taking into account not only the considerable economic issues, but also the health risks linked to fake products and the issues of consumer protection, it wishes know how the Government intends to adapt its anti-counterfeiting strategy to new distribution practices. In addition, she would like to know what measures the Government intends to implement to increase consumer awareness of the risks associated with fake products, and particularly young consumers, and to make access to websites offering counterfeit products more difficult.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

No documents linked.

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.