Brussels, 02/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - Meeting on the sidelines of the second European Commission-Chinese government working meeting in Brussels (see EUROPE 9830), Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner László Kovács and Chinese Ambassador to the EU Song Zhe, on 30 January, signed an action plan on customs cooperation in tackling piracy and counterfeiting, and also an agreement on drug precursors to prevent the import of illegal chemical substances for designer drugs.
Under the joint intellectual property action plan, a working group will be set up to study the flow of counterfeit goods between China and the EU, to examine how information can be shared on risks in the area of intellectual property rights, to consider operational cooperation between the main ports and airports, and exchanges of officials, and to examine how to develop partnerships with the private sector in China in order to better target suspicious cargoes. China, with almost 60%, is, by far, the main source of counterfeit goods entering the EU.
The agreement on drug precursors, harmless chemical substances used legally in a wide range of consumer goods (medicines, soaps, perfumes, biocides, etc), but which can be used improperly in the illicit manufacture of drugs, such as cocaine, heroine and ecstasy, will see set up a broad system of monitoring the legal movement of drug precursors, which will prevent these substances, which come mainly from China, being diverted from legal trade to be used in the production of illegal drugs in the EU. (E.H./transl/rt)