The rise in Chinese counterfeit goods to the EU is potentially life-threatening, making it imperative that Beijing crack down on fake medications and aircraft parts, a top EU customs official said Wednesday.
"It (piracy) is no longer dominated by expensive luxury items or expensive watches but fake medicines, fake foodstuffs, fake children's toys, fake car spare parts and even fake spare parts for aircraft engines," EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union Laszlo Kovacs said in Shanghai.
"It's no more a question of financial loss, it's no more a question of losing some revenue, it is a growing danger to the health, to the safety and to the lives of our citizens," he said in remarks at China Europe International Business School.
Over half of the more than 100 million seized counterfeit articles entering Europe in 2004 originated in China, said Kovacs, in China for a three-day visit to discuss counterfeit goods with Chinese counterparts.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, Kovacs noted that the EU had been seeing and seizing more fake medications, foodstuffs, cigarettes and even Rolls Royce aircraft engine parts. Under a bilateral agreement, China has said it will cooperate in fighting counterfeiting and bring legislation into compliance with that of Europe.