Chris Vansteenkiste (Europol): “Everything that can be produced, can be counterfeited. Every sector is touched”

Leaders League. What exactly does your work at Europol’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit consist of?

Chris Vansteenkiste. The Europol Intellectual Property Crime Unit was created in 2008. It supports and strengthens cooperation of the Member States in the fight against intellectual property crimes, especially when they affect health and safety. Its main tasks involve supporting operational activities of live investigations, raising the awareness of the law enforcement community on the threat posed by intellectual property crimes, and liaising with the industry to monitor new trends.

Leaders League.  What are the sectors most impacted by counterfeiting, and what damages does this represent for EU economy?

C. V. Nowadays is very difficult to answer to this question, ten years ago I would have said that IP crimes were only linked with luxury goods, perfumes, clothing like sportswear. But recently we have organized an operations seizing food and beverage, coffee, chocolate, fake whisky and champagne. Fake and sub-standard food and drink pose a real threat to health and safety. The automotive sector is also involved, pesticides and of course pharmaceutical, everything that can be produced, can be counterfeited. Every sector is touched and each day I’m surprised by new cases involving new products.

Leaders League. China is the primary source of counterfeit goods, though other countries are involved. Can you elaborate on how counterfeiting is geography distributed?

C.V. The main percentage of counterfeit goods is coming from China, but for example Pakistan and India are producers of pharmaceutical and chemicals, and Vietnam and Cambodia are also infamous for being producing countries. The reason is very simple, they are countries with economies based on undervalued labor. Organized crime from Europe or the US order goods from China or other such countries because of the cost, while the main benefits are made in Europe and the US. It is also interesting to see that final production is often completed in Europe, for example, where the product will be finished and retouched. Importing unbranded items is not illegal and therefore these goods cannot be intercepted or seized by customs border agencies.

Leaders League. Could you tell us about some recent significant operations launched by the Europol’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit?

C.V. A successful case is the Operation Opson, which is targeting food and beverage goods. The first edition was launched in 2011 with nine countries involved. In 2015 we launched the fifth edition with more than 10,000 ton and one million liters of fake food and drink seized in operations across 57 countries. Another important case is the Silver Axe, during which 350 inspections of containers were carried out at major ports and airports in seven countries. As a result, law enforcement agencies from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands discovered 190 tons of illegal or counterfeit pesticides.

Roberta Veronese