Joint OECD-EUIPO study: E-commerce is main channel for trade in counterfeits

Online commerce has been growing rapidly in recent years. This trend has only sped up during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, more than 50% of counterfeit goods seized at the EU borders stem from online commerce, a new joint study between the Organisation für Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) finds.

Next to perfumery and cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and sunglasses are the main counterfeited products sold online, mainly stemming from China. The study ‘Misuse of e-commerce for trade in counterfeits’ confirms that online commerce is fueling trade in fake goods and is becoming the main enabler for distribution of counterfeit products. It analyses data from custom seizures of goods at the external borders of the European Union (EU) and looks at how counterfeit goods end up in the hands of consumers.