Italians spent 6.9 bn on counterfeits

(ANSA) - Rome, June 14 - 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.