“How do you recognise a counterfeit piece of goods?” was one of the most frequent questions at the exhibition of counterfeit goods prepared by the Slovenian Customs at the General Customs Directorate on the occasion of Europe Day, 9 May.
Customs officers from the Koper Customs Directorate where most of counterfeit goods are detected, answered that they had paid attention to quality, making up, origin, packaging, etc. However, it is the proprietor of trade-mark right who confirms that a product is actually a counterfeit piece of goods.
For example, it is suspicious that in the same container there are products of different trade marks and that the container arrives from China, the source of most counterfeit goods.
“The Slovenian Customs is very successful in fight against counterfeit goods. According to the number of seized products of this kind, Slovenia was in the second place among the EU member states in 2006,” stated Rajko Skubic, Director-General of the Slovenian Customs Administration, when he was opening the exhibition.
Over one hundred counterfeit products were displayed at the exhibition: clothes, shoes, sunglasses, bags, belts, wallets, scarves, perfumes, balls, towels, spare parts for mobile phones, logotypes, key holders, alcoholic beverages, etc. Hugo Boss, Diesel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Playboy, Adidas, Nike, Pzifer, Lilly and Nokia are most frequently counterfeited trade marks. The products are generally intended for EU member states and third countries (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
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