Greece tops EU for fake goods
More counterfeit goods are seized in Greece than in any other European Union member state, according to a new European Commission report, which notes that confiscations in Greece account for 20 percent of the EU total. Greek customs officials seized 21.9 million counterfeit products last year, out of a total of 118 million bootleg goods confiscated in the 27 EU states, the report said. Cigarettes account for about a fifth (19 percent) of counterfeit goods seized by customs officials across the EU. Other tobacco products account for another 16 percent of the goods seized, with fake designer goods and bootleg medicines making up another 16 percent of confiscated products. Commenting on the findings of the EC’s report, Vassilis Korkidis, president of the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce, noted that the trade in counterfeit products accounts for 20 billion euros, a third of Greece’s black market economy, which is estimated at 60 billion euros.
