Romania reported 43.74% of the suspected counterfeit articles detained at the EU’s external borders in 2025

By estimated value, Romania’s share was 1.38%. Border statistics include goods subsequently released, including an exceptional batch of 16 million items at EU level. The European total uses a different basis and does not measure the entire illegal market.

Romania reported 43.74% of the number of suspected counterfeit articles detained at the European Union’s external borders in 2025, the largest share among Member States, according to the joint report by the European Commission and EUIPO published on October 22, 2026. However, based on the estimated value of the goods, Romania’s share was 1.38%. The statistics include temporary detentions, while an exceptional EU-level operation involving 16 million items subsequently released strongly influences the customs balance.

In brief

Romania reported 43.74% of the number of items detained at the EU’s external borders in 2025, but 1.38% of the estimated value. The percentage does not describe all counterfeiting in the EU.

The border total is 42.1 million items, valued at almost two billion euros, and includes goods subsequently released. A batch of 16 million items in the “other tobacco products” category was released because the rights holder did not take action.

The EU total of more than 196 million items, valued at €6.32 billion, excludes border goods subsequently released and includes more than 175 million items from the domestic market. The two balances cannot be added together directly.

The value is estimated at the price of equivalent genuine products, not at the price of counterfeits and not as a demonstrated commercial loss. CDs/DVDs, toys and labels lead the ranking by number for the EU total.

Road transport surpassed maritime transport in the number of items detained at the border, but maritime transport dominates in value. Most individual cases concern postal services and express courier shipments.

The 67.37% increase concerns the EU total; at the border it is approximately 114%, or approximately 30% excluding the exceptional batch. The data come from inspections, not from a measurement of the entire illegal market.

Bulgaria and Italy follow Romania in the ranking by number of items detained at the border. By value, Spain leads with 50.73%, followed by Germany with 21.74%. The difference between the two rankings shows how much the type and price of goods matter: a very large batch of inexpensive items can dominate the volume without representing a comparable proportion of the value. The results do not automatically place Romania first as a consumer market or place of production for counterfeits.

In total, customs authorities detained 42.1 million items at the external borders, with an estimated value of almost two billion euros. This balance includes products subsequently released, including the exceptional batch of 16 million items in the “other tobacco products” category. The Commission specifies that these were released because the rights holder did not take the necessary action. The initial detention therefore does not mean definitive confiscation, destruction or legal confirmation that the goods were counterfeit.

The total for the entire EU uses a different basis: more than 196 million items and an estimated value of €6.32 billion. From the border component, this total excludes goods subsequently released and retains products destroyed or remaining under supervision during the proceedings. It also includes more than 175 million items detained on the domestic market. Therefore, the 42.1 million items at the border cannot be added directly to the domestic-market figure to reproduce the European total.

The financial value is calculated, in principle, at the retail price that equivalent genuine products would have on the market of the reporting state. It does not represent the price obtained for counterfeits, the revenues of illegal networks or demonstrated commercial losses suffered by rights holders. The methodology warns that this assessment may be much higher than the actual price of a counterfeit, especially for luxury goods.

In the EU total, recorded CDs and DVDs, including software, accounted for 29.30% of the items, toys for 19.65%, and labels, marks and stickers for 12.82%. These are numerical shares for the report as a whole, not the structure of detentions in Romania. The large number of labels and packaging materials also indicates the possibility that unbranded goods were transported separately and then labelled or assembled within the Union.

At the border, road transport surpassed maritime transport for the first time in the number of items detained, while goods transported by sea continued to dominate the estimated value. However, most individual cases involved postal and express courier consignments, frequently associated with e-commerce. China, Türkiye and Hong Kong are among the main reported places of origin. The number of cases, the number of products and their value measure different aspects of inspections.

In the comparative series used by the new report, the total number of items detained in the EU increased by 67.37% compared with 2024. For the border balance, the increase was approximately 114%, or around 30% if the exceptional batch of 16 million items is excluded, according to the Commission. These rates describe reported detentions; they do not demonstrate that the entire illegal market expanded to the same extent.

The report brings together customs data from all 27 Member States and data on domestic-market inspections reported by authorities in 24 states. Romania’s share thus describes the results recorded in the European control system, without measuring all counterfeit goods circulating in the country or in the Union. For interpreting the figures, the statistical scope, the value of the products and the outcome of the proceedings opened after detention are all equally important.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/romania-a-inregistrat-43-din-produsele-suspecte-de-contrafacere-retinute-la-frontierele-externe-ale-ue-in-2025