Spain is Wine landsparkling, beers, ciderliquors … and falsifications. This is revealed at least The last balance of the EU Intellectual Property Office (Euipo), which has launched a notice to navigators: fraudulent copies are hitting the alcohol industry, subtracting billions of euros in sales, destroying thousands of jobs and depriving public coffers of large income via taxes. And the one who is spending it worse is Spain.
Here the wineries and companies that lose more money are located.
The bottle, the most affected. When we talk about falsifications, the mind usually goes to luxury articlesgarments, wallets and bags of large brands, watches or exclusive jewels. The shadow of pirate copies is however elongated and extends to many other merchandise, including food. Moreover, the Euipo assures that in 2020 the falsifications of food were among the most common found at the EU borders. And by “food” not only refers to Iberian sausages. In the list there are also cookies, pasta, potatoes or sweets.
If there is a sector that is suffering alarmingly the mazazo of the copies is nevertheless that of wine and spirits. “It was one of the most affected during the 2013-2017 period”, Clarifies the organism Before sliding a couple of figures. “It is estimated that 2,289 million euros were lost in sales and almost 5,700 jobs were destroyed a year in the EU due to falsifications in this sector.” In tax only 2,068 million euros vanished.
Spain, in the focus. The sector does not happen as evil throughout the EU. Euipo estimates for example that the Portuguese industry falsified some 33 million of euros in sales and just over 200 jobs every year. In Austria, illicit copies subtract the winemakers and other professionals in the sector near 28 million of euros and in Greece that invoice amounts to 49 million. The blow is more severe in Germany, with losses of 279 million of euros, Italy (302 millionor France, where that hole amounts to 316 million of euros.
They are high figures, but not as much as those suffered by Spain, one of the world’s great wine powers with Italy or France. He warns Euipo clearly, which launches a warning: “Spain is the first EU country in direct economic loss in this sector, with 380 million in sales not made by falsifications.” The Spanish sector is also one of the ones that loses the most for that cause: more than 1,100 positions per year, a fact that only exceeds France.
Old problem, new challenges. The falsifications of wines and spirits are no novelty, but the authorities continue to encounter new challenges. The EUIPO notes that the rise of online trade “has opened new roads” for the sale of copies and makes customers “increasingly difficult” when distinguishing between an authentic and a falsified article, a problem that does not only affect the industry of alcoholic beverages.
“Criminal networks manipulate labels, containers and even alter the manufacturing processes, focusing on value products,” duck The organism. In the specific case of alcohol, what experts do perceive is that counterfeiters are resorting to “sophisticated methods” to mock controls, which includes from the reuse of original bottles to the impression of false labels.
Two countries: China and Türkiye. Community authorities have not only detected the most punished nations (at an economic and employment level) for falsifications. The report From Euipo does something else: pointing out the countries of origin that are most frequently related to food and drink falsifications. And there are two that stand out if we focus on the pirate copies that were seized between 2019 and 2020 on the EU borders: China and Türkiye.
As a conclusion, the text slides another equally important idea. Falses are not a problem just because of the damage they cause to the sector or their ability to destroy employment. The Euipo adds another more important handicap: public health. “Recent reports alert about the risks of these consumer health products,” warns Before remembering that food and drink has been detected with “dangerous substances”, such as methanol, mercury or pesticides.
Images | Kelsey Chance (UNSPLASH) and Zachariah Hagy (UNSPLASH)
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