Setting the scene

In an era of virtual worlds where everything is just one click away, the flow of postal packages is intensifying with the development of internet sales, and this is not making the task of Customs services any easier, particularly when it comes to combating counterfeiting and piracy.

The Internet is fast becoming the world’s biggest superstore, but at the same it has turned into a shop window and vehicle for counterfeit goods. Hundreds of millions of packages are transported by the postal services each year, and an increasing number of them contain counterfeit or pirated goods. In fact, according to the WCO Secretariat’s statistics, between 30% and 40% of all cases dealt with by Customs in the area of IPR enforcement involve postal traffic.

This is not a coincidence and there are many reasons for this: international legislation which is not robust enough and is ill-suited to the situation; the colossal growth in postal traffic; the fact that it is virtually impossible to conduct risk analyses; the long and often costly procedures that rights holders have to undertake, bearing in mind the small number of items generally intercepted in each individual postal traffic seizure; problems in identifying where responsibilities lie; and a host of other problems.

The result is that when Customs administrations conduct their controls, the only effective tools at their disposal are a sharp blade and a roll of sticky tape!