Which agency investigates counterfeiting

Create a Board. Create Cancel. Skip to content U. Government Agency Profiles. Open Articles. Pick a Board. Thus, rights holders, governments and the formal economy as a whole are suffering huge losses each year, while the criminal networks that are behind the trade profit enormously.

Thus the relative impact of counterfeiting is twice as high for the developed economies of the EU as it is for the world as a whole. But the damage goes beyond the immediate impact of one and another loss. Counterfeiting and piracy are a threat to sustainable business models based on intellectual property and patenting, because they also discourage innovation and work against the economic growth that is based in it. Counterfeit products range from high-end consumer luxury goods such as watches, perfumes or leather goods, to business-to-business products such as machines, chemicals or spare parts, to common consumer products such as toys, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and foodstuffs.

In fact, any IP-protected product can be counterfeited. Some counterfeit products, such as pharmaceuticals, spare parts and toys, are of low quality, and thus create significant health and safety threats. Europol regularly supports operations to thwart counterfeiting, seize fake goods, shut down websites selling them, and arrest members of the criminal networks involved. Three examples will serve to illustrate the range and scope of these operations:.

Skip to main content. Counterfeit goods The aim is: To disrupt the organised criminal groups OCGs involved in the production and distribution of counterfeit and substandard goods. Number of items found: How-to guide. Landing page.