Brussels, 24/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the EU Council adopted a plan of action aimed at improving the fight against intellectual copyrights infringements at European level for the period 2009-2012. Compared to the previous initiative, the plan takes into account new counterfeiting trends such as the explosion of small quantity sales via the internet. The European Commission will take stock of the situation every year and will present a final detailed report in 2012. Member states are invited to adopt national plans based on the Council's initiative. Welcoming the Council's resolution to launch the action plan, the commissioner for customs union, László Kovács, said “customs will pay special attention to dangerous counterfeit goods, to dismantling organised crime behind the phenomenon of counterfeiting, to sales via the internet and to the need to act globally by cooperating with as many stakeholders as possible”. Decided by the Competitiveness Council in September 2008, the creation of a European observation to monitor counterfeiting under the aegis of the European Commission will be made official during the “Contrafake 2009” conference in Brussels on Thursday 2 April.
The action plan is made up of separate chapters: - review of European legislation (EC Regulation No 1383/2003) on intellectual property rights (IPR): special attention will be paid to the definition of counterfeit products, to seizure of products in transit, to small imports by travellers or by post and to the development of IT and statistical tools; - improved cooperation with right holders: organisation of seminars and training courses, promotion of experts' use of standard warnings to customs authorities; - strengthened cooperation between customs authorities in the EU and with third countries: increased experience sharing, the setting in place of joint activities aimed at potentially dangerous merchandise (e.g. medicines); - the development of international cooperation: continued talks on the future anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA), implementation of the specific action plan signed with China, organisation of joint operations with the main international partners; - improved communication with the public: launching of campaigns during major sports/cultural events, communication on risks linked to the acquisition of counterfeit products; - and an answer to the internet sales problems: organisation of seminars, signing of agreements (e.g. memoranda of understanding) for sharing information with internet access providers. (M.B./transl.jl)