EUobserver.com

The European Union and China are to establish a jointly developed network to exchange information between their ports as part of the struggle against counterfeiting, said EU taxation and customs commissioner Laszlo Kovacs on Monday (28 January) during a visit to Beijing.

At the same time, the commissioner said the two regions are working together on a concrete "Action Plan on Intellectual Property Rights" that will target pirate medications, toys, food and auto parts.

"Counterfeiting is a serious threat to the safety, the health and even the life of our citizens," said Mr Kovacs following talks with Chinese officials, according to the AP.

China is by far the largest source of pirated products seized at EU borders, said the commissioner in a statement announcing the trip.

Commissioner Kovacs met his Chinese counterpart, the minister of the Chinese General Administration of Customs (GAC), Mu Xinsheng, at the 3rd Joint Customs Cooperation Committee (JCCC) meeting, where the intellectual property rights Action Plan on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is being developed.

The commissioner hopes that the Action Plan will include specific commitments from both parties to strengthen co-operation on protecting intellectual property, and more generally a partnership between the private sectors in China and the EU.

The port co-operation is to include an "intelligence network" between European and Chinese ports.

Although the commissioner declined to give details of this network, in November last year, the British, Dutch and Chinese customs authorities established a similar pilot project exchanging for the first time electronic information on sea containers passing through the ports of Rotterdam, Felixstowe and Shenzhen.

The project targets traffic in illicit goods by sharing inspection, departure and arrival data on containers, and using electronic seals on containers to ensure supply-chain security.

During his stay in China, commissioner Kovacs also hopes to discuss a possible bilateral co-operation agreement to tackle the trade of drug "precursors", which are often used to manufacture illicit synthetic drugs.

China and EU join forces in anti-piracy battle