(TRADE MARKS AND DESIGNS)
Press Release
Alicante, 10 March 2015
Nearly €5 billion and 50,000 jobs lost every year
in the cosmetics and personal care sector due to counterfeiting
Sales of counterfeit perfume, makeup and personal care items like sunscreen and shampoo throughout the EU mean that legitimate manufacturers, retailers and distributors lose €4.7 billion of revenue each year.
That equates to 7.8% of the total sales in the cosmetics and personal care sector throughout the EU-28.
That lost revenue translates into 50,000 lost jobs, as the legitimate industry sells less than it would have done in the absence of counterfeiting, and therefore employs fewer workers.
Those findings are contained in a new report from the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), the EU’s largest intellectual property agency, acting through the EU Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.
The report, the first in a series of economic studies assessing the economic impact of counterfeiting in the EU economy, also found that when the knock-on effect on suppliers are taken into account, legitimate businesses across the EU lose €9.5 billion of sales revenue because of counterfeiting, with around 80,000 jobs lost.
Furthermore, €1.7 billion of government revenue is lost due to the presence of counterfeiting, reflecting income taxes, social contributions and VAT that arenot paid by the producers and sellers of counterfeits.
The President of OHIM, AntónioCampinos, said:
“This report is just the first in a series of reports which, when taken together, will show the negative economic impact of counterfeiting and piracy on the EU economy. Our mission is to provide policy makers with reliable, accurate and objective data to inform their work. This report, together with future studies to be released over the next 18 months, aims to fulfil that mission”.
In the United Kingdom, one of the largest consumers in the EU along with Italy and Germany, 6% of the sector’sdirect sales are lost annually (€ 419 million)
NOTE TO EDITORS
This study on the cosmetics and personal care sector will be followed, over the next 18 months, by similar assessmentson 12 other sectors known to be subject to IPR infringements, such as clothing, footwear and accessories; medicines; luggage and handbags; games and toys, computers and automotive parts, watches and jewellery.
About OHIM
OHIM is the EU agency entrusted with the registration of Community trade marks and designs. In 2012, the Office was given the responsibility for the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights which works to support the protection and enforcement of IP rights.
Press contacts:
Laura Casado
Tel: +·34 96 513 8934
Ruth McDonald Claire Castel
Tel: +34 96 513 7676 Tel: + 34 626 346 627
twitter: #OAMITWEETS
Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs)
Avda. de Europa, 4 - E-03008 Alicante, Spain
Tel +34 965 139 100 - Fax +34 965 131 344