EXTERNAL ACTION / Trade

OECD and EUIPO sound alarm over abuse of free trade zones for trafficking of counterfeit products

Brussels, 15/03/2018 (Agence Europe)

Rapid growth in free trade zones – where economic activity is driven by reduced taxes and customs controls, light regulation and limited oversight – is unintentionally fostering growth in counterfeit goods trafficking, according to a new report by the OECD and the EU’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), published on Thursday 15 March. 

Trade in Counterfeit Goods and Free Trade Zones finds that exports of counterfeit and pirated goods from a country or economy rise in parallel with...