Finance Ministry wages war on counterfeit and pirated trade products
The monitoring mechanisms of the Finance Ministry will focus on the fight against counterfeit products trafficking, as the phenomenon has grown considerably in recent years. In his address to the International Conference on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, which started yesterday in Halkidiki, northern Greece, Deputy Finance Minister Antonis Bezas waged war against piracy products. «The challenges in the case of counterfeit and piracy products are the same for all countries and therefore for all customs authorities. There are multiple consequences, primarily on legal trade, healthy competition, investment and jobs,» said Bezas. Another parameter concerns the threat to consumers’ health, said Bezas, caused by products such as counterfeit medicines and cigarettes, while these products may well be funding international organized crime. «The ministry is modernizing its agencies with investment in the modern technology sector. In this context, it funds ICIS-NET which will upgrade the already existing information technology system at customs houses (ICIS) and ELENXIS, the new IT monitoring system and all other monitoring agencies,» he said.
