EU Customs Seizures Data

The data for the charts and tables are collated from official EU customs seizure data released annually by the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD). TAXUD is responsible for the European Commission’s policies on taxation and customs. Data provided by TAXUD on customs seizures infringing intellectual property rights has developed significantly from when first made available in 2000. Originally, only a few charts and tables were provided, but since 2006 the TAXUD has compiled a yearly comprehensive report, including trends and observations. The annual report has been re-branded as “Report on the EU Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: Results as the EU Border”. As the report developed, more datapoints were added, the product categories were expanded, and new Member States joined the EU. As such, the data requires substantial processing to facilitate long-term trend analysis. We have done just that, collating, cleansing, and processing the data for you, with a selection of important datapoints visualised below.

Note 1: any record listed as “NR” means Not Reported. This covered data not included for various reasons and which could not be accurately calculated using other datapoints.

Note 2: the latest records available cover the calendar year 2019. The UK officially left the EU 31 January 2020, therefore are UK references remain up until this point.

See here for customs seizure data covering ?? United States & ? World Customs Organization

Contents

Section 1 – EU Customs Seizure Totals
1.1 Total Articles Seized
1.2 Number of Cases
1.3 Estimated Retail Value Articles Seized
1.4 Average Number of Articles Seized per Case
1.5 Average Retail Value per Case
1.6 Average Retail Value per Article
1.7 Trade Mark Infringing Articles & Percentage of Total
1.8 Health & Safety Risk Articles & Percentage of Total
1.9 Date Table for Section 1
Section 2 – Product Category Breakdown
2.1 Foodstuffs, Alcohol, and Other Beverages
2.2 Body Care Items
2.3 Clothing & Accessories
2.4 Shoes
2.5 Personal Accessories
2.6 Mobile Phones
2.7 Electrical / Electronic & Computer Equipment
2.8 CD, DVD, Game Cartridges
2.9 Toys & Games
2.10 Tobacco Products
2.11 Medical Products
2.12 Other
Section 3 – Transport Breakdown
3.1 Transport Breakdown by Articles Seized
3.2 Transport Breakdown by Number of Cases
3.3 Transport Breakdown by Estimated Retail Value
Section 4 – Breakdown of Articles Seized by Member States Breakdown
Sources

Section 1 – EU Customs Seizure Totals

Data in this section relate to headline seizure figures covering: total articles seized for IPR infringement; number of cases; estimated retail value of seized items; average number of articles per case; average retail value per case; average retail value per article; the number of articles seized on the basis of trade mark infringement along with the percentage of total IPR violations relating to trade mark infringement; and the number of high risk articles seized presenting a health & safety concern to the public along with the percentage of total IPR violations relating to such high risk articles.

Articles = each unit seized

Case = number of cases opened

Retail value = the retail value for each article seized multiplied by total number of seized articles

1.1 Total Articles Seized

Total articles seized represents the total number of units seized by EU Customs on the basis of intellectual property infringement. This covers all forms of IPRs, including: copyright, trade marks, patents, design rights, geographical indicators etc. Both Community rights and relevant national rights are in scope of EU Customs. Since 1999, total articles seized has grown by an average of 2.32% per year, from just over 25 million infringing articles in 1999 to almost 41 million infringing articles in 2019.

1.2 Number of Cases

Number of cases represents the cases opened by EU Customs to investigate suspected IPR infringement. A case may cover a single package sent via postal services or a container full of infringing articles. As such, total articles is a better reflection of the scale of IPR infringing goods seized by EU Customs. Since 1999, the number of cases has grown by an average of 15.21% per year, from around 4.7k cases in 1999 to almost almost 92k cases in 2019.

1.3 Estimated Retail Value Articles Seized

Estimated retail value of articles seized is calculated by multiplying the retail value of each article seized by the total number of seized articles. There are various nuances to calculating retail value and is open to significant interpretation. Thus retail value is not a reliable indicator of long-term trends in seizure volume or scale. Estimated value was first introduced by TAXUD in the 2010 reoprt. Since 2010, estimated retail value of articles seized has fallen by an average of 3.73% per year, from €1.1 billion in 2010 to around €760 million in 2019.

1.4 Average Number of Articles Seized per Case

Average number of articles seized per case is calculated by dividing the total number of articles seized by the number of cases. The smaller the number, the fewer the articles seized per case. This represents the methods and modes use to distribute IPR infringing products into the EU. Since 1999, the average number of articles seized per case has fallen by an average of 11.19% per year, from over 5.3k in 1999 to 446 in 2019.

1.5 Average Retail Value per Case

Average retail value per case is calculated by dividing the total retail value by the number of cases. The smaller the number, the lower the value each case represents. Value is measured in Euro. Since 1999, the average average retail value per case has fallen by an average of 5.16% per year, from over €14k in 1999 to just over €8k in 2019.

1.6 Average Retail Value per Article

Average retail value per article is calculated by dividing the total retail value by the total number of articles seized. The smaller the number, the lower the value each artticle seized represents. Value is measured in Euro. Since 1999, the average retail value per article has increased by an average of 5.6% per year, from €11 in 1999 to €19 in 2019.

1.7 Trade Mark Infringing Articles & Percentage of Total

This chart represents two metrics. Firstly, on the left y axis, the total number of articles seized on the basis of trade mark infringement. As total articles represents all IPR infringements, this figure is a subset of Chart 1.1. On the right y axis, the percentage of total articles seized on the basis of trade mark infringement is displayed. Since 200, articles seized on the basis of trade mark infringement has fallen by an average of 2.76% per year, from around 54 million in 2000 to around 31 million in 2019. Trade mark infringement remains the single biggest IPR enforced by EU Customs, with an average proportion of 84% over the dataset.

1.8 Health & Safety Risk Articles & Percentage of Total

This chart represents two metrics. Firstly, on the left y axis, the total number of high risk articles seized presenting a health & safety threat. Articles identified as high risk are: foodstuffs (see 2.1); body care (see 2.2); medicines (see 2.11); electrical household goods (see 2.6 & 2.7; and toys (see 2.9).

As total articles represents all product categories, this figure is a subset of Chart 1.1. On the right y axis, the percentage of high risk articles seized is displayed. Since 2000, high risk articles seized has fallen by an average of 8.95% per year, from around 20 million in 2008 to around 6 million in 2019. High risk items presenting a health & safety threat averages 25% of all articles seized.

1.9 Date Table for Section 1

The data used for all Charts in Section 1 is displayed in this table. Please note: “NR” means Not Reported.

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Total articles	25,285,838	67,790,546	94,421,497	84,951,039	92,218,700	103,546,179	75,733,387	128,631,295	79,076,458	178,908,278	117,959,298	103,306,928	114,772,812	39,917,445	35,940,294	35,569,982	40,728,675	41,387,132	31,410,703	26,720,827	40,968,254
Number of cases	4,694	6,253	5,056	7,553	10,709	22,311	26,704	37,334	43,671	49,381	43,572	79,112	91,245	90,473	86,854	95,194	81,098	63,184	57,433	69,354	91,868
Estimated value	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	1,110,052,402	1,272,354,795	896,891,786	768,227,929	617,046,337	642,108,323	672,899,102	582,456,067	738,125,867	759,198,194
Articles per case	5,387	10,841	18,675	11,247	8,611	4,641	2,836	3,445	1,811	3,623	2,707	1,306	1,258	441	414	374	502	655	547	385	446
Value per case	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	14,031	13,944	9,913	8,845	6,482	7,918	10,650	10,141	10,643	8,264
Value per article	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	11	11	22	21	17	16	16	19	28	19
TM % of total articles	NR	80%	76%	82%	74%	61%	68%	91%	92%	55%	90%	87%	97%	94%	93%	93%	94%	92%	94%	88%	76%
Articles infringing TM	NR	54,448,184	71,809,127	69,217,120	68,624,104	62,930,812	51,345,707	117,054,478	72,750,341	98,399,553	106,163,368	89,877,027	111,329,628	37,522,398	33,424,473	33,080,083	38,284,955	38,076,161	29,526,061	23,514,328	31,135,873
H&S % of total articles	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	11%	18%	15%	29%	13%	25%	29%	26%	34%	43%	37%	16%
Articles health & safety concern	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19,679,911	21,232,674	14,979,505	32,825,024	5,069,516	9,056,954	10,173,015	10,507,998	14,154,399	13,600,834	9,833,264	6,391,048

Section 2 – Product Category Breakdown

Data in this section relate to product category breakdowns. All figures are for total articles seized within the specific product category. Product categorisation has changed considerably from 2000 when data was first reported. Former categories have been mapped to current categorisation. Currently, there are 12 master categories, which feature various sub-categories. Only the master category total is displayed in each chart. Each chart has a data table providing a breakdown of articles seized by each sub-category.

2.1 Foodstuffs, Alcohol, and Other Beverages

2.1.1 Data Table

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Foodstuffs	2,340,334	4,106,663	841,259	1,489,908	4,432,161	5,228,896	1,185,649	1,924,896	2,434,959	112,563	2,836,803	1,053,393	84,927	161,200	1,618,244	2,926,390	5,317,440	7,519,574	1,264,781	1,387,995
Alcoholic beverage	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	12,018	129,145	74,689	37,263	59,240	148,438	30,694	52,826	415,670	46,579	86,293
Other beverage	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	66,370	46,560	4,371	86,520	53,717	453,971	153,168	88,818	97,171	354,036	217,082
Total	2,340,334	4,106,663	841,259	1,489,908	4,432,161	5,228,896	1,185,649	1,924,896	2,434,959	190,951	3,012,508	1,132,453	208,710	274,157	2,220,653	3,110,252	5,459,084	8,032,415	1,665,396	1,691,370

2.2 Body Care Items

2.2.1 Data Table

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Perfumes and cosmetics	92,650	26,417	112,132	1,009,879	784,268	694,633	1,676,409	6,103,171	4,588,317	1,127,728	1,219,740	748,905	1,429,153	1,108,537	931,907	991,175	1,037,209	377,800	1,001,106	1,052,627
Other	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	2,470,275	1,948,341	1,834,821	1,413,205	2,018,190	860,711	2,404,365	1,201,111	1,589,879	1,520,329	1,127,837
Total	92,650	26,417	112,132	1,009,879	784,268	694,633	1,676,409	6,103,171	4,588,317	3,598,003	3,168,081	2,583,726	2,842,358	3,126,727	1,792,618	3,395,540	2,238,320	1,967,679	2,521,435	2,180,464

2.3 Clothing & Accessories

2.3.1 Data Table

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Clothing (ready to wear)	1,894,490	2,449,280	2,136,266	3,445,835	1,727,351	2,590,043	7,265,530	5,525,534	6,467,184	6,333,913	5,955,697	6,930,942	4,036,781	3,398,913	4,504,004	1,501,883	1,200,425	1,693,194	2,331,558	2,305,803	1,601,413
Clothing accessroies	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	1,644,107	847,593	787,457	628,375	467,268	520,631	497,525	460,852	162,813	346,407	243,030
Total	1,894,490	2,449,280	2,136,266	3,445,835	1,727,351	2,590,043	7,265,530	5,525,534	6,467,184	6,333,913	7,599,804	7,778,535	4,824,238	4,027,288	4,971,272	2,022,514	1,697,950	2,154,046	2,494,371	2,652,210	1,844,443

2.4 Shoes

2.4.1 Data Table

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Sports shoes	5,025,304	6,408,671	1,954,726	1,444,230	1,147,767	466,073	591,154	459,361	356,794	531,433	580,117	480,839	601,564
Other shoes	NR	NR	1,787,053	1,160,589	2,115,568	762,442	1,114,433	1,205,863	314,002	419,564	321,703	275,760	449,799
Total	5,025,304	6,408,671	3,741,779	2,604,819	3,263,335	1,228,515	1,705,587	1,665,224	670,796	950,997	901,820	756,599	1,051,363

2.5 Personal Accessories

2.5.1 Data Table

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Sunglasses and other eye-glasses	NR	2,172,901	2,646,406	5,797,238	2,148,921	5,237,908	3,717,386	8,793,123	6,290,642	4,999,714	433,141	504,951	239,728	644,357	698,931	481,176	739,261	268,992	146,125	629,143	221,234
Bags, wallets, purses etc	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	1,526,342	1,388,293	968,196	885,374	817,792	496,499	767,459	279,941	417,712	340,261	412,884
Watches	478,459	3,488,748	746,942	424,168	674,327	491,558	516,240	943,819	1,787,016	1,539,202	305,964	313,489	452,725	471,366	324,293	182,817	198,202	198,804	207,604	91,271	116,220
Jewellery and other accessories	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	1,435,572	1,258,638	890,132	607,155	1,228,919	711,782	279,210	223,149	140,267	99,035	155,722
Total	478,459	5,661,649	3,393,348	6,221,406	2,823,248	5,729,466	4,233,626	9,736,942	8,077,658	6,538,916	3,701,019	3,465,371	2,550,781	2,608,252	3,069,935	1,872,274	1,984,132	970,886	911,708	1,159,710	906,060

2.6 Mobile Phones

2.6.1 Data Table

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Mobile phones	100,116	157,352	140,265	49,609	88,484	86,236	50,086	72,268	62,939	98,057	49,678
Parts and technical accessory	1,110,345	1,346,169	3,134,535	1,122,188	1,212,091	1,454,783	1,282,131	987,587	770,349	1,085,035	1,142,622
Total	1,210,461	1,503,521	3,274,800	1,171,797	1,300,575	1,541,019	1,332,217	1,059,855	833,288	1,183,092	1,192,300

2.7 Electrical / Electronic & Computer Equipment

2.7.1 Data Table

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Audio/visual apparatus including technical parts	506,956	292,022	1,026,517	1,763,054	523,275	4,225,202	3,273,538	2,984,476	3,648,348	5,046,607	605,824	319,910	358,371	342,277	341,744	299,977	278,523	154,637	155,160	174,854	98,126
Memory cards, memory sticks	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	214,629	387,405	166,652	168,913	145,141	153,516	115,081	92,391	65,749	73,617	36,367
Ink cartridges and toners	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	83,133	90,226	351,510	221,206	84,050	5,817	32,782	23,161	6,944	11,498	7,794
Computer equipment	NR	66,115	103,327	47,184	79,402	793,149	808,637	152,102	246,236	415,144	225,602	188,448	480,225	108,420	66,511	152,244	187,093	312,427	1,433,883	260,732	299,039
Other equipment (i.e. hair straighter)	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	434,450	551,749	228,288	157,399	90,852	205,450	371,908	55,414	78,762	64,384	64,521
Total	506,956	358,137	1,129,844	1,810,238	602,677	5,018,351	4,082,175	3,136,578	3,894,584	5,461,751	1,563,638	1,537,738	1,585,046	998,215	728,298	817,004	985,387	638,030	1,740,498	585,085	505,847

2.8 CD, DVD, Game Cartridges

2.8.1 Data Table

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Recorded	259,220	8,842,075	39,737,512	11,975,237	32,616,560	18,523,664	9,703,059	15,080,161	3,298,813	79,170,506	226,618	2,733,813	493,228	52,260	265,145	66,221	27,435	19,723	11,976	3,806	29,129
Unrecorded	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	5,630,599	848,967	749,689	167,738	341,182	23,468	1,000	0	0	0	5
Total	259,220	8,842,075	39,737,512	11,975,237	32,616,560	18,523,664	9,703,059	15,080,161	3,298,813	79,170,506	5,857,217	3,582,780	1,242,917	219,998	606,327	89,689	28,435	19,723	11,976	3,806	29,134

2.9 Toys & Games

2.9.1 Data Table

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Toys	2,911,798	6,819,113	1,565,578	1,124,756	12,333,868	18,106,924	1,891,981	2,370,894	4,685,037	4,963,016	6,285,265	6,737,254	2,127,300	1,637,941	2,788,944	3,503,042	3,902,258	6,850,733	3,440,108	3,795,087	3,940,320
Games	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	545,888	403,658	269,348	105,390	172,381	128,992	117,248	49,865	279,960	190,219	40,182
Sporting articles	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	28,445	226,502	113,772	138,568	59,403	84,997	66,187	18,170	53,049	47,521	41,919
Total	2,911,798	6,819,113	1,565,578	1,124,756	12,333,868	18,106,924	1,891,981	2,370,894	4,685,037	4,963,016	6,859,598	7,367,414	2,510,420	1,881,899	3,020,728	3,717,031	4,085,693	6,918,768	3,773,117	4,032,827	4,022,421

2.10 Tobacco Products

2.10.1 Data Table

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Cigarettes	31,360,411	33,244,507	41,588,030	32,641,243	73,920,446	27,161,056	41,907,847	17,000,368	34,646,097	20,234,352	12,319,444	3,269,342	12,346,308	11,239,956	9,911,814	2,917,205	4,189,219	8,737,832
Other (i.e. cigars, paper etc)	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	18,632,187	8,174,565	75,579	96,069	21,781	173,282	46,806	23,401	10,242	220,806	184,602
Total	31,360,411	33,244,507	41,588,030	32,641,243	73,920,446	27,161,056	41,907,847	35,632,555	42,820,662	20,309,931	12,415,513	3,291,123	12,519,590	11,286,762	9,935,215	2,927,447	4,410,025	8,922,434

2.11 Medical Products

2.11.1 Data Table

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Medicines and other products (condoms)	560,598	2,711,410	4,081,056	8,891,056	7,423,824	3,200,492	27,460,538	712,220	3,690,876	2,804,569	895,324	392,037	568,122	822,399	1,172,076
Total	560,598	2,711,410	4,081,056	8,891,056	7,423,824	3,200,492	27,460,538	712,220	3,690,876	2,804,569	895,324	392,037	568,122	822,399	1,172,076

2.12 Other

2.12.1 Data Table

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Machines and tools	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	10,574	16,835	79,032	236,117	98,719	179,791	155,534	94,948	51,281	161,234	474,429
Vehicles including accessories and parts	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	50,233	104,935	428,725	183,643	341,433	157,680	382,638	155,844	422,218	451,114	472,966
Office stationery	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	280,819	8,705,155	2,269,158	244,838	1,382,077	60,309	757,999	592,636	386,205	47,365	226,980
Lighters	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	546,684	1,219,457	136,114	656,335	114,843	179,888	355,115	163,059	61,264	102,017	152,657
Labels, tags, stickers	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	15,594,983	7,033,905	2,515,950	1,413,271	835,339	936,624	3,319,198	1,259,192	1,922,153	2,380,535	1,030,163
Textiles	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	252,200	345,920	251,376	243,659	87,188	200,645	164,600	123,274	105,192	100,278	171,409
Packaging materials	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	1,073,183	3,813,894	24,343,992	3,929,727	3,227,679	1,171,156	1,878,594	4,778,521	1,429,350	2,615,738	5,557,620
Other goods	19,234,921	41,227,308	42,325,869	28,059,765	6,370,702	6,773,242	9,431,647	13,287,274	8,357,699	12,209,326	2,422,754	2,024,906	14,010,280	4,695,090	4,067,411	1,620,704	4,242,512	3,482,697	2,873,599	1,069,962	9,364,118
Total	19,234,921	41,227,308	42,325,869	28,059,765	6,370,702	6,773,242	9,431,647	13,287,274	8,357,699	12,209,326	20,231,430	23,265,007	44,034,627	11,602,680	10,154,689	4,506,797	11,256,190	10,650,171	7,251,262	6,928,243	17,450,342

Section 3 – Transport Breakdown

Data in this section relate to breakdowns by mode of transport. These charts show the transport types used to facilitate the importation of IPR infringing product into the EU.

3.1 Transport Breakdown by Articles Seized

This chart displays transport breakdown by IPR infringing articles seized. It shows the dominance of Sea as the primary mode of transport to import articles into the EU. Since 2004 Sea has always been the single largest transport distribution method, with an average proportion of 69%.

3.1.1 Data Table

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Train	1%	1%	1%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	1%
Air	12%	9%	7%	11%	7%	17%	9%	8%	19%	22%	17%	17%	16%	23%	23%	9%
Sea	69%	77%	76%	58%	81%	75%	82%	68%	59%	63%	70%	74%	67%	64%	54%	71%
Post	0%	1%	1%	1%	0%	1%	1%	2%	3%	3%	2%	2%	2%	3%	2%	1%
Road	15%	11%	15%	28%	12%	6%	8%	22%	19%	12%	10%	7%	14%	10%	20%	16%
Inland waterway	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	1%

3.2 Transport Breakdown by Number of Cases

This chart displays transport breakdown by number of cases. It shows the comparatively small number of cases from Sea, even though Sea is the distribution method where most articles are seized. This chart also show the growing contribution of Post, notably caused by increase in ecommerce and the use of small parcels. This shows that the trade in IPR infringing products is increasingly more decentralised. Since 2011 Post has increased by an average of 10% per year and has since 2010 been the single largest contributor to the total number of cases.

3.2.1 Data Table

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Train	0%	1%	0%	1%	1%	1%	53%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Air	60%	45.5%	50%	48%	51%	53%	1%	44%	44%	26%	28%	27%	26%	18%	25%	31%	31%	29%	34%
Sea	16%	13%	12%	11%	13%	8%	8%	9%	9%	5%	4%	4%	4%	3%	3%	3%	3%	2%	2%
Post	11%	33%	30%	32%	25%	23%	20%	24%	34%	62%	63%	62%	64%	77%	71%	65%	65%	67%	63%
Road	13%	8%	8%	7%	9%	12%	17%	21%	13%	7%	5%	7%	6%	2%	1%	1%	1%	2%	1%
Inland waterway	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	0%

3.3 Transport Breakdown by Estimated Retail Value

This chart displays transport breakdown by estimated retail value. It shows the declining dominance of Sea as the primary mode of transport to import articles into the EU, in favour of Air and Post. Whilst Sea has fallen on average 3% per year, Air has increased by an average of 4% and Post by 17% each year.

3.3.1 Data Table

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Train

Air

21%

22%

20%

22%

26%

32%

36%

42%

26%

30%

Sea

66%

64%

56%

63%

51%

55%

35%

53%

51%

Post

12%

17%

10%

14%

Road

10%

12%

15%

10%

Inland waterway

Section 4 – Breakdown of Articles Seized by Member States Breakdown

This data table shows the breakdown of articles seized by each Member State. The Not Reported entries are due to the countries not being a Member State. The top 5 Member States reporting the highest articles seized since 1999 are: the Netherlands; Italy; Belgium; Germany; and Greece. The top 5 Member States account for 61% of all EU customs seizures. The bottom 5 Member States: Croatia; Slovakia; Ireland; Luxembourg; and Estonia account for less than 1% of the total.

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Austria	260,858	299,718	110,699	354,352	499,258	4,107,988	179,683	166,546	104,608	619,897	562,091	292,606	97,957	182,046	98,440	195,650	44,832	77,741	235,725	38,513	370,240
Belgium	1,073,416	14,578,368	16,938,752	17,579,272	55,030,118	20,395,907	18,956,750	18,744,113	4,942,716	6,580,898	2,827,367	1,776,855	4,297,806	2,310,620	2,108,855	6,614,925	504,130	4,287,417	966,155	1,307,944	595,705
Bulgaria	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	7,759,759	5,500,154	11,335,030	4,444,533	32,593,339	2,019,180	562,579	635,706	1,282,130	638,248	1,109,979	1,531,696	2,924,055
Croatia	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	59,324	122,794	306,000	744,099	62,715	2,078,311	250,377
Cyprus	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	157,690	187,894	237,810	90,778	161,779	1,091,401	88,985	170,914	392,891	339,856	37,823	35,661	243,018	11,607	13,858	683,168
Czech Republic	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	934,348	770,729	985,586	1,040,861	1,021,397	2,072,559	1,451,993	1,861,910	662,429	1,014,152	602,751	515,105	4,621,189	354,136	209,317	4,182,292
Denmark	18,776	383,829	1,308,315	157,410	42,842	64,681	212,615	90,634	192,721	9,064,420	1,896,944	100,501	518,006	64,296	42,393	32,660	51,021	1,101,242	17,279	27,633	553,316
Estonia	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	236,323	210,495	97,698	53,007	99,953	186,063	617,538	355,382	119,962	4,576	76,395	25,536	177,227	68,550	50,822	532,898
Finland	4,725,798	4,537,375	804,712	3,545,265	1,607,802	705,615	1,652,647	426,925	1,846,606	1,291,877	728,935	382,481	549,832	279,603	200,917	113,721	4,805	18,191	415,728	5,377	161
France	3,826,287	3,515,231	5,079,378	2,143,035	1,134,897	1,828,021	695,240	1,858,433	2,995,331	7,424,102	7,936,111	6,514,801	4,923,690	1,180,438	2,918,879	4,512,382	6,331,378	1,960,705	4,265,443	2,087,423	1,643,560
Germany	6,449,636	17,832,139	17,835,441	5,951,247	13,889,111	15,038,436	15,463,216	17,129,083	11,194,464	27,854,300	5,012,847	2,378,815	2,277,714	2,470,331	3,005,883	3,239,347	2,302,444	3,386,892	2,959,079	4,704,079	3,416,121
Greece	23,479	5,332,532	6,371,822	2,964,064	1,060,878	152,045	2,599,692	25,844,516	4,822,319	3,637,257	21,990,722	22,353,823	9,665,763	941,337	679,797	728,784	6,375,856	2,966,330	2,517,133	2,646,850	1,388,284
Hungary	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	4,516,845	1,338,888	1,323,122	718,694	1,515,614	1,211,346	551,751	335,112	1,638,059	2,378,875	133,323	18,130	74,204	68,283	1,460,425	530,114
Ireland	21,650	13,064	82,283	91,206	93,233	633,994	622,120	18,785	30,502	280,404	462,993	66,853	146,472	142,110	162,298	26,126	18,001	12,826	12,746	19,081	45,628
Italy	4,811,647	2,275,581	3,850,125	35,779,167	7,695,209	22,133,872	11,601,890	18,056,248	17,457,211	9,003,313	12,955,023	15,900,422	29,908,415	6,108,760	4,968,196	1,333,441	2,096,910	1,006,661	593,487	1,077,920	1,881,712
Latvia	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	167,014	159,821	184,557	781,788	80,080	724,943	120,935	1,338,225	986,774	600,939	85,647	89,976	64,432	208,397	122,859	76,497
Lithuania	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	522,983	183,998	620,428	261,968	495,846	637,194	757,990	192,715	137,555	59,029	32,604	90,618	4,905,936	6,188,110	384,946	603,953
Luxembourg	1,739	83,256	86,510	109,386	163,610	412,908	121,883	52,105	32,354	12,815	36,925	44,606	59,953	1,282,134	67,348	25,164	33,622	67,379	71,957	163,326	15,590
Malta	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	2,632,397	2,180,634	2,711,435	2,438,021	3,220,348	9,984,712	2,650,692	4,568,054	6,065,155	1,762,275	5,238,065	1,256,131	2,604,260	1,492,018	2,434,450	6,134,074
Netherlands	2,282,827	10,396,875	34,502,462	5,920,768	3,258,120	8,911,977	5,050,444	6,949,844	4,401,093	65,336,872	17,965,045	96,225,526	5,086,932	1,966,380	2,275,770	2,361,330	5,120,665	2,202,371	1,929,071	401,707	1,979,183
Poland	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	773,081	2,635,002	2,589,343	6,134,572	3,042,146	716,467	590,806	615,621	279,054	2,472,723	555,638	1,074,941	383,615	1,193,057	204,829	670,822
Portugal	768	24,676	39,929	2,063,750	250,105	222,162	544,669	494,834	495,087	507,607	195,376	9,276,661	1,961,746	279,132	857,647	1,312,390	352,405	855,617	126,594	246,251	309,299
Romania	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	3,766,515	2,731,117	7,728,945	3,303,353	1,339,058	2,078,122	1,711,152	3,076,236	4,693,180	3,660,196	3,035,707	1,945,016	9,895,418
Slovakia	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	934,348	30,562	97,733	920,701	24,387	85,122	17,966	175,257	235,579	198,340	98,895	90,103	84,546	79,124	24,279	322,053
Slovenia	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	942,143	1,976,491	22,416,958	280,630	179,955	1,120,178	1,589,227	1,520,522	870,246	435,556	505,975	3,213,513	1,289,689	197,011	722,437	326,095
Spain	1,249,482	7,596,111	6,877,487	6,914,478	5,575,529	8,757,546	5,520,996	3,388,100	2,320,140	26,572,996	4,368,692	12,391,430	5,490,037	3,140,772	3,522,272	1,619,264	1,893,019	1,737,103	1,776,405	1,305,972	563,145
Sweden	18,580	64,019	67,155	198,788	374,035	125,520	284,032	78,054	1,141,771	489,560	418,327	75,596	68,926	51,980	102,920	20,066	58,246	211,410	30,650	23,142	75,270
United Kingdom	520,895	857,772	466,427	623,433	1,543,953	5,639,630	2,555,896	4,068,406	2,852,244	2,159,184	3,707,940	5,940,183	4,653,454	4,032,550	3,329,303	2,231,880	2,850,004	2,004,588	1,424,557	1,482,250	999,224

Sources:

Report on the EU customs enforcement of intellectual property rights 2000-2019 released by the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union – a Directorate-General of the European Commission

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