Malta Seizes Thousands of Fake Ink and Toner Cartridges

Customs officials on the archipelago of Malta have seized thousands of counterfeit printer ink and toner cartridges over the last few weeks.

Maltese news services report that four containers housing 971 boxes of 14,200 fake ink and toner cartridges, purporting to be brands like Hewlett Packard (HP), Canon and Lexmark, have been held by customs over the past four weeks.

Figures said the counterfeit goods, hidden behind unmarked boxes, had been distributed from the Far East and were bound for Africa. Since the start of the year, Malta has intercepted 44 containers containing over two million fake products.

According to HP, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates the annual value of international trade in all counterfeit goods at $200 billion (£124 billion).

The World Customs Organisation and the International Chamber of Commerce think the counterfeit trade takes 500 billion euros every year from the global economy, with around 200,000 being lost in Europe alone due to the production of fake goods.

Posted by Jamie Foster.