Brussels, 19/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The second meeting of the joint EU-China Customs Cooperation Committee in Brussels on 19 September, attended by tax and customs union Commissioner Laslo Kovacs and Chinese customs minister Mu Xinsheng, saw the launch of a pilot project to make trade exchanges by sea containers safer and easier. The project will involve Dutch (port of Rotterdam), British port of Felixstowe) and Chinese (port of Shenzhen) Customs. If it is successful, it could be rolled out throughout the EU. It will allow the level of security to be checked throughout the container's journey, by checking legal arrangements (information required prior tot eh arrival or departure of goods, export checks) and ways of making the containers more secure (seals, scans, etc.). It will contribute to mutual recognition of Customs security standards, to the use of the latest technology and to increased exchange of information among partners. The advantage for approved economic operators (those companies meeting the higher standards in Customs security and holding Customs authority approval) will be reduced checks and more rapid Customs clearance for goods on arrival.
The Union des Fabricants (UNIFAB), in a press release, welcomed the launch of the pilot project: “Freight forwarders, container companies, importers and port authorities are indeed the different links in the logistics chain which is manipulated by counterfeiters. This project features the application of EU law on economic operators, exported goods control and methods to secure containers (seals, including e-seals, scanners etc)”. pointing out that the global circulation of counterfeit goods is done with the use of sea containers from Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, then through European ports, UNIFAB congratulated “the two partners for the attention they show in the struggle against organised crime which is affecting States and their customs revenue as well as consumer safety and the European brands industry”.
Pirating and counterfeiting account for 5-7% of world trade. Three quarters of counterfeit goods intercepted come from China. Counterfeiting is increasingly affecting stapled consumer goods (toys, car spare parts, medicines, food products: see related article).