Italians spent 6.9 billion euros on
counterfeit products in 2015, up 4.4% on 2012, according to a
study conducted by research institute Censis for the industry
ministry and published Tuesday.
Producing and selling the same products legally would
create an additional 100,515 jobs and increase domestic
production by 18.6 billion euros, with an added value of 6.7
billion euros.
It would also increase tax revenue by 5.7 billion euros,
the study found.
Fake products are sold at street stands, in warehouses and
private homes, on websites and by mail delivery and are becoming
increasingly diversified in terms of the quality, price and type
of product.
Clothing and accessories top the list of popular
counterfeit items, accounting for an estimated 2.2 billion euros
or 32.5% of the total, followed by audio visual products at
nearly 2 billion euros (28.5% of the total) and food products at
1 billion euros (14.8%).
Electronic appliances and materials, watches and jewellery
are also expanding sectors.
Customs officers and finance police carried out more than
131,000 seizures concerning a total of 432 million counterfeit
articles between 2008 and 2015.
Some 51% of all material confiscated by customs authorities
came from China.
The first national anti-counterfeiting week organised by
the industry ministry's Directorate-General for the Fight
against Counterfeiting-UIBM runs until June 19.
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