Report on the implementation of Council Regulation (EU) No 608/2013

Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are a widespread and ever increasing phenomenon worldwide. International trade in counterfeit products represents up to 2.5% of world trade, or as much as €338 billion, based on the latest available data from 2013. The impact of counterfeiting is particularly high in the European Union, with counterfeit and pirated products amounting up to 5% of imports, or as much as €85 billion.

A fundamental component of the EU system to enforce IPR at the border is Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 concerning the customs enforcement of intellectual property rights, which entered into force on 1 January 2014. Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 is accompanied by the EU Customs Action Plan to combat IPR infringements for the years 2013 to 2017, for which the Commission submits to the Council an annual summary report and will also submit a final report by the end of 2017.

The present document aims at reporting on the feedback gathered by the Commission on the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 since 1 January 2014. As regards implementation by Member States, the report covers a three-year period from 1 January 2014 to December 2016, whereas the detailed figures on actions taken at EU borders cover the years 2014 and 2015, as statistics for 2016 were not yet available at the time when this report was prepared.