China was the source of almost three-quarters of the €1.3bn in counterfeit goods intercepted by European customs authorities last year, according to an EU report published this week.
The 115m counterfeit products seized was a 15 per cent increase over the previous year and a tenfold increase over the last decade. Jonathan Todd, a European Commission spokesman, attributed much of the increase to the explosion of online commerce, noting that most seizures last year were made at post offices rather than ports, as had previously been the case.
Mr Todd added that the surge represented a danger to European consumers because many of the counterfeit products – including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics – could include harmful chemicals. Often consumers were not aware products were counterfeit, Mr Todd added.