World Cup 2006 kicks off wave of counterfeit products[fr][de] 

World Customs Organisation (WCO ) fear that the World Cup 2006 will be a 'golden opportunity for criminals to flood the market with pirated products'. According to the industry, fake World Cup merchandise, such as shirts and scarves, could cost businesses millions in lost profit. 

The WCO and the Commission have also warned that those purchasing counterfeit World Cup products take serious health risks. "There is a high risk for your own safety if you buy some of those products. People can get sick, injured or even worse," said John Pulford, from Commission's DG Taxation and Customs union in an interview with Reuters. "It's not just the jerseys and scarves which burn very quickly, they are very dangerous and can cause rashes, but stuff like bars of chocolate which we don't know where they came from or what's in them or lighters which are not child-proof," he explained. 

An international workshop on combating counterfeit and piracy in relation to the FIFA World Cup 2006 was jointly organised by the Commission, the WCO and the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI ) on 29-30 May 2006. 

This piracy meeting enabled customs authorities, the private sector and other rights stakeholders to share experience on issues such as detection of faked products and the latest modus operandi used by counterfeiters. The workshop was also an opportunity to co-ordinate technical co-operation between these stakeholders and is expected to be the beginning of a more regular co-operation on the issue in the future.

The World Customs Organisation has indicated it intends to use every opportunity, including major sports events such as the World Cup 2006 to raise public awareness an convince consumers to stop buying counterfeit products. "Since the protection of IPR is an area where business has much expertise and experience in identifying goods in infringement, customs administrations need to cooperate closely with rights holders and other business stakeholders," said the WCO Deputy Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya calling for enhanced public-private partnerships on the issue.

The WCO is also particularly concerned about the sale of counterfeit goods via the Internet and thinks that authorities should consider a ban on the sale of all World Cup goods on the Internet.

According to a Commission statement, the new measures proposed by the Commission in April 2006 "represent the criminal law dimension of the fight against counterfeiting and piracy in Europe. Effective approximation of member states' criminal legislation in this field is the minimum needed to pursue together a major campaign aimed at eradicating these phenomena, which are causing serious harm to the economy".