Malta ranks third in the EU for the number of fake items seized at customs after a massive 2.4 million counterfeit articles were confiscated last year.

Gas cylinder seals, car badges, sportswear, bags and shoes were among the items destined for the local market.

Other seizures included cigarettes, shoes, clothes, and even vanity cases caught in transit to other countries.

The haul of items represented a 63 per cent increase on the year before. 

Details were released by Malta Customs after an EU Commission report on the protection of intellectual property placed Malta third among Member States in terms of seized goods. 

Customs across the EU seized 26.7 million articles with an estimated value of €738 million.

In Malta, 2,434,450 articles were seized.

Last year the department launched a new scanning facility and scanning vehicle at the Malta Freeport to allow for a faster flow of containers through the Customs areas.

The Commission report shows that the total amount of articles detained decreased by 15 per cent compared to the previous years.

Counterfeit cigarettes being destroyed. Photo: Malta Customs

What was seized by Malta Customs?

Most of the items sized in Malta are destined for other countries. 

A spokesman for Malta Customs told Times of Malta that the EU report measures articles or units differently to the way they are measured in Malta.

“Cigarettes for example are calculated by the single cigarette in Malta, but by the EU as a 20 package (this means that 10 million turns to 0.5 million),” he said.

A breakdown by individual items seized by Malta Customs shows that in 2018 they seized 44.3 million items in transit, of which 44 million consisted individual cigarettes.

The rest were shoes (139,448 items), clothes (22,804) bags (2,300), feed additives (3,300) and vanity cases (3,600).

Malta Customs also seized almost 9,000 counterfeit items destined for local consumers with the bulk (6,000) being gas cylinder seals, followed by car badges (437), sportswear (331), shoes (192) and bags (166).

Where are they coming from?

Across the EU, China is the main country of origin for fake goods.

However, for certain product sectors other countries were the main provenance, including North Macedonia for alcohol and Turkey for other drinks, perfumes and cosmetics.

The main source for computer equipment was India, Cambodia for cigarettes and Bosnia and Herzegovina for packaging material.

What happened to the fake items?

According to the EU Commission report, once items are confiscated, customs initiated a range of procedures that included legal procedures or the destruction of the goods.

In almost 90 per cent of cases, the goods were destroyed immediately, a court case was initiated to determine the infringement, or they were handled as part of criminal proceedings. 

In 6.3 per cent of the procedures taken by customs, the goods were released because no action was taken by the right-holder after receiving notification from the customs authorities. 

In four per cent of the detentions, customs authorities released the goods because they appeared to be non-infringing genuine goods or because there was a non-infringing situation.

Counterfeit alcohol seized by Malta Customs earlier this year. Photo: Jonathan Borg