Brussels, 04/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP), meeting in plenary session, has brought clarification to the European rules on confiscating, storing and destroying counterfeit or pirated goods with its first reading adoption on Tuesday 3 July of the report by Jürgen Creutzmann (ALDE, Germany) on the draft regulation brought forward by the Commission in May 2011 on enforcement of intellectual property rights by customs authorities (see EUROPE 10385). This result, achieved by 397 votes to 259, with 26 abstentions, despite the opposition of the S&D, Greens/EFA and GUE Groups, means the report will provide the EP's position in negotiations with the Council on a possible second reading agreement.
The numbers of small postal consignments has risen dramatically, in line with the development of online trade. The draft regulation introduces a simplified procedure that allows the authorities to destroy suspected counterfeit or pirated goods without the need for a legal decision, if the right holder confirms the infringement and if the importer does not object. In its legislative resolution, the EP brings an amendment to this to ensure that that the person who should have received the goods has five days in which to object to their destruction and that buyers who bought them in good faith do not also have to pay the cost of destroying them. Parliament also provided a definition of “small consignment”, something the Commission omitted to do in its proposal: three items or fewer, together weighing less than 2 kg and contained in one package. Goods of a non-commercial nature contained in a traveller's personal luggage should be excluded from the scope of the regulation, MEPs add.
In a further point, the Commission proposal includes, within the scope of the draft regulation, goods in transit through the EU, thus allowing customs authorities to seize suspected counterfeit goods even when they are addressed to destinations outside the EU. The rapporteur argues that this could have an adverse effect on the legitimate trade in generic medicines between non-EU countries. In his report, therefore, he states that intellectual property legislation should only apply to goods for delivery in the EU and not to goods in transit. The text adopted, then, recommends that generic medicines in transit must not be delayed or confiscated unless there is clear and convincing evidence that they are intended for sale in the EU.
The S&D, Greens/EFA and GUE Groups, which wanted adjustments on this point and others, voted against the draft regulation. They were unable, however, to garner sufficient support for their stance to prevent adoption of the legislative resolution. (FG/transl.rt)